Katara Alone in the Fire Nation
by Captain Crunch's elf
Summary: Katara is captured by the Fire Nation the day after she finds Aang in the iceberg. She is taken to the Fire Nation capital where she lives with Hama and goes to school. She learns a lot about herself there and about the Fire Nation Prince. Zutara! R&R!
1. Prologue

_A/N: __This is an Avatar: The Last Airbender story. I just had a great idea I needed to get down. This is Katara's POV. Hope you like it!_

Prologue 

I was still sleeping. I knew I should have woken up to make breakfast for my brother Sokka and Aang (my new friend and the last air bender whom I just met the day before), but I was just too lazy. I was tired and my bones hurt because I decided water bend all day the day before. I just laid there like a big fat slug. As I stared at the ceiling of our Igloo, I heard a loud bang and several screams from outside. I jumped out of my bed and ran out of the door to see what was going on.

There was Fire Navy ships surrounding our village and soldiers attacking our people.

I couldn't do anything. I knew that if I tried to water bend they would know that I was the last water bender in the South Pole. I didn't want to be taken away from my home, so I just stood there watched the Fire Nation hurt my village.

I saw Sokka and Aang run towards the ships. They were locked in a fierce battle with the Fire Nation soldiers who seemed to have an endless supply of energy. I ran to them, wanting to tell them to leave and escape.

"Sokka!" I yelled. He whipped his head and looked at me. "You and Aang have to get out of here!"

"Katara, you have to get out of here! I'm fine! Just leave!" I looked at Sokka like it might be the last time we ever get to see each other. I ran over to Aang and started to pull him with me.

"Katara, what are you doing?" he yelled.

"We have to get out of here. C'mon!" I grabbed Aang's wrist and then a piercing battle cry came from behind us. We started to run from the soldier but then I felt two hands grab my ankles. The soldier brought me down and started to go after Aang. I tried to get up but two other soldiers tied me up with chains and threw me into a net. I watched Aang and knew he was going to try to save me. He was badly outnumbered.

"Run Aang!" I yelled at him. "Leave! Find Sokka and go!"

The two soldiers picked me up and started to carry me towards the massive Fire Nation ship. I spotted Sokka, who was still fighting. I took one last look at him and prayed that he would be safe. He saw the soldiers taking me to the ship and started to scream, "KATARA!" I couldn't bear to look at him so I closed my eyes.

I heard Aang's voice fill my ears as he said, "We have to get out of here Sokka!"

"THAT'S MY SISTER! LET HER GO!" I heard the pain in his voice and couldn't bear it. I was leaving my brother: my grandmother: my father: and my friend. All of this pain was caused against my will. There was nothing I could do. I was tied up and was being taken to somewhere mysterious.

"C'mon Sokka!" Aang yelled.

I opened my eyes and all I saw was metal illuminated by shades of red. A dignified looking man came towards me and stared at me.

"This is her. Nice work gentlemen." He turned away from me then said, "See to it that she doesn't know where we are going. You can't trust water benders. They are the opposite of the most powerful element of the world."

My heart started to quicken and then my word went black.

_A/N: Okay, so I changed a few things from the original but it is so much better. I hope you like the revised version because I know I do. _


	2. The Ship

_A/N: Here is chapter one. Enjoy!_

The Ship

I woke up to find myself lying on a hard metal floor. My feet were chained to the floor. When I stood up to get my bearings I noticed that my ribs hurt like hell. They were probably bruised.

I walked over to the door were there was a little slot for food. That was my only light source. I got down on my hands and knees to look under the door. Suddenly I heard footsteps and saw shadows under the door.

I immediately got to my feet, went to the corner of my cell and sat down. A guard came in. I just pulled my knees to my chest and said nothing.

"So," he started. "I hear you are the last water bender in the Southern Water Tribe." I did not respond. "So you aren't going to deny it so you can get out of this situation."

I sighed. "You were sent here to interrogate me."

"Mind reader and a water bender, very impressive." He leaned against the wall.

"Why do you people want all of the water benders any way?"

"Because we know that your mother wasn't a water bender," he replied.

My eyes widened. "How do you know that?" I asked.

"We have our methods." This man was very vague.

"Then if you know it's me why haven't you killed me?" I asked my voice muffled from my mouth being pressed against my knees.

"We are going to use you for the war." My heart stopped. I could not believe this. All this time I just wanted this stupid war to end. Now I am going to be in it? For the Fire Nation?

"Hey Shi," somebody yelled out of the door. "Inspection meeting starts in five minutes. Get your butt out here."

To my relief the guard named Shi walked towards the door and opened it. He turned around and said, "Somebody will be by to tell you the plan. In the mean time eat up." I saw the bowl of rice and some fruit.

"What about water?" I asked not realizing what I had said.

"Why would we give you water? You would just break out of here." He turned and walked out of the door.

"What am I going to do?" I said to myself. I just wanted to be back with my brother and Aang. My stomach started to groan. That was an indicator that I needed some food. I grabbed the bowl of rice and the fruit and started to eat.

QQQQ

There was a loud bang and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I realized that I fell asleep. I was wondering how long I was out. All of a sudden the door flew open.

"Get up peasant," the man growled. I scrambled to my feet and stood up quickly. He came closer to me, grabbed my foot and unlocked the chains. "Come with me."

I went outside of the cell and was surrounded by guards. I followed the guard that had unlocked the chains. We went up some stairs and suddenly there was light. It took me a while to figure out that we were on the ship's deck. I was in the dark for so long that I couldn't tell where I was.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"We are about one day away from the Fire Nation capital. We are going to tell you the plan." The captain of the ship replied. "You are going to be living with a Fire Nation woman named Hama for a year. You will be attending a Fire Nation high school. You will be living as a normal Fire Nation teenager until the Solar Eclipse."

"Why do you want me in the war?" I asked firmly.

The captain of the ship turned away from me. "The Solar Eclipse will take away every fire bender's ability to fire bend."

"What do you want me to do?" I asked once again.

"You and the army are going to fight anyone who tries to get to the Fire Lord."

"But who else besides you knows that there is going a solar eclipse?" I had a lot of questions.

"Trust me people will and do know," he replied. I decided to not ask any more questions. "Take her back to her cell," he yelled to the guards.

Two of the guards took me by the arms and took me back to the darkness. The only thing I wanted at that moment was to be back in my tribe with Sokka, Gran Gran, and Aang. I just wanted to be home.

When the chains were put back on my feet I decided to go to sleep. I didn't want to think about anything I just wanted to sleep.

_A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. I know it was kind of short but I hope that you liked it anyway. Please tell me what you think by clicking on the Review button and leaving me a comment._


	3. Meeting Hama and Going to School

_A/N: This chapter is kind of long. Enjoy! _

Meeting Hama and Going to School

We were almost to the Fire Nation capital. I didn't know when we would get there but I knew we were close. I was very cold and was eager to get out of this metal holding place. I was very tired so I fell asleep.

I jerked up to the sound of the ship's bell ringing. We had finally reached the Fire Nation. I heard footsteps clanging on the metal floor. The door floor open and Shi, the guard I had met earlier, stood in the doorway.

"Let's go," he said with a harsh tone. I stood up and followed him down the hall and to the deck which was very bright. I stood there and waited for directions.

The captain of the ship came up to me. "Someone will escort you to Hama's home. You will live their and go to school as a normal Fire Nation child. After you do us the favor on the day of the eclipse we will take you home. If you try anything you will be sentenced to death." He warned me with a quiet but harsh tone.

I stood there for a few minutes waiting for someone to take me to Hama's house. Finally a guard came up to me, took my arm and dragged me off the ship. We walked down streets, up lanes and alleys until we came to a stop.

"This is Hama's house. She owns an inn so you are in good hands. Be good to her and remember what the captain told you." He led me up the stairs and knocked on the door. An old woman answered the door.

"Hama," the guard said. "This is who you will be hosting for a while."

"Oh good," she replied. "Well young lady please come with me and I will show you around." She motioned for me to follow her and I did.

"Over there is the kitchen," she pointed to a room separated from the rest of the house by paper doors. "The living room and the bathroom are over there." She led up a flight of stairs to the next floor and into a room. "This will be your room," she told me.

The room was very spacious, much bigger than her whole house in the South Pole. There was a queen sized bed in the middle of the room, a chair in the corner, a desk, two dressers and four very big windows.

"I hope you will like it in here," she said as she smiled at me. "I will leave you so you can have a moment to digest this."

"Don't go," I said suddenly. "I don't want to be alone." Hama walked towards me a wrapped her arms around me.

"It will be okay honey, I promise." Her embrace was so familiar it made me think of my mother. I started to cry thinking of her.

"I miss my home," I cried tears dripping on Hama's shoulders. "I want to go back."

"I wish I could take you back honey," she replied. "I really do." I held onto Hama until I felt like I was going to fall asleep at any second.

I pulled away from her embrace. "Can I go to bed please?" she smiled at me.

"You don't have to ask that." She walked out of the room and closed the door.

I immediately collapsed on the bed. Shortly after, I fell asleep.

* * *

When I woke up it was dark outside. I realized that I fell asleep in my clothes but I didn't care. I went downstairs to the kitchen were I found Hama sitting at the table with a feast surrounding her.

"What is this?" I asked.

"It is a Southern Water dinner. I figured that you would miss the culture there. If you can't go back to the South Pole then I am bringing the South Pole to you."

"How do you know so much about the Southern Water Tribe?" I asked.

"Well I grew up there with your grandmother I believe." She replied.

"You knew my Gran Gran?"

"She was my best friend. We were only teenagers when I was captured."

"How did you get captured?" I was very curious about her.

"The Fire Nation came and took all of the water benders from the Southern Water Tribe," she explained to me.

"You are a water bender?" I asked in awe.

"Yes I am," she said. "I am willing to teach you all that I know Katara." My mouth just hung open.

"I would love that," I said excitedly. "I always wanted to learn from a master water bender."

"I think you will be an excellent water bender Katara." She smiled at me. "Now eat up, you have to go to school tomorrow."

"I don't have any clothes," I said quite loudly.

"What?"

"I have no Fire Nation clothes." I was panicking. "All I have is this." I stretched out my dress. "I need clothes."

"Okay here is what we are going to do," she started to say. "I have your school uniform. After you get home from school tomorrow we will go shopping and get you some new clothes and other things that you might need or want."

"Um," I sounded nervous. "What do I do for pajamas for tonight?"

"Just wear what you always wear for pajamas," she replied obviously not remembering what to wear when you are in the South Pole.

"Considering that I wear a parka and sleep in a very warm sleeping bag." Mentioning this made me miss the South Pole.

"Oh, right," she said in urgency. "Well just for tonight could you possibly sleep in your… under garments." She looked very uncomfortable.

"Oh yeah sure," I replied. "I don't mind."

"We will get you some clothes tomorrow sweetie I promise."

"Thank you," I said. I picked up my chopsticks and started to eat. Once I started to eat I realized how hungry I actually was. I started to scarf down my food.

"Slow down there honey," Hama said to me.

I smiled.

* * *

After dinner I headed up stairs to my room and took off my water tribe dress. As I slipped into my bed I noticed my school uniform. It was too dark to see what it looked like.

I just lied in my bed staring at the ceiling. Staring at the ceiling I noticed that there were skylights. I looked at the sky and noticed that the moon was out. I liked it when the moon was out. I stared at the moon for however long and at some point I fell asleep.

There was a knock at the door. I snapped up in bed and the blanket slipped off of me.

"Katara," Hama called through the door. "Please get up. It's your first day of school and I don't want you to be late."

I dragged myself out of my warm, cozy, comfortable bed and went to the bathroom that was down the hall.

I took a bath, brushed my hair and teeth and then went back to my room.

I pulled the uniform off of the desk chair, where it had been hanging and put it on.

There was a long flowy red skirt that came down to my ankles, a tank top shirt that came down just above my mid- section. There was also a pair of boots that went up to my knees.

I had to take off my mother's necklace because it screamed water tribe. I had to redo my hair. I pulled a little section of it into a top knot. The rest of my hair I just left down. I looked into the mirror I had and then left the room to go downstairs.

When I got downstairs I saw that Hama had made me a water tribe breakfast. I walked around the table and sat down. "You didn't have to do this for me," I said as I helped myself to some Artic Seal meat.

"I know, I just figured that you have to live I should make you feel as comfortable as I can." Hama sat down and poured us some tea.

"Well thank you Hama," I said as I sipped my tea. "I really appreciate it."

"No problem sweet pea." She smiled and we continued to eat breakfast.

* * *

Hama walked me to school because A) I didn't know where it was at and B) I was scared out of my mind. I didn't know anything about Fire Nation culture. Thankfully Hama prepped me while we were walking to the school.

"Remember to bow respectfully to all of your teachers and elders. Hold your hands like the way I showed you back at the house." She showed me the hand gesture again. "Do not speak unless spoken to, and uh… what else?" It took her a while to think of something. "Oh," she said suddenly. "Be careful of the crowned Prince."

"Why?" I asked.

"He can get a little testy so be careful."

"What's his name?" I asked very curiously.

"Zuko," Hama replied quickly. "Just be careful Katara."

We finally reached the school I would be going to for the next year. "So is this it?"

"I'm afraid so Katara," she sighed. "I have arranged for someone to take you home because I have guests coming at the same time that school ends. Well I will see you later." Hama gave Katara a hug and started off in the opposite direction of the school.

I stood still for a while afraid to move. I had no idea what to do at a Fire Nation school. I watched the other kids go into the school and then I decided to follow them.

When I got inside the building I didn't know where to go. Thankfully someone came up to me. That someone was a girl wearing the same uniform as me and she had dark black hair.

"Are you Katara?" she asked.

"Yes," I replied. "And you are?"

"Ming, I am Ming."

"Well nice to meet you Ming. Um..., I have no idea where I am supposed to go."

"Oh that's why I was sent to find you. I am going to show you around and take you to your classes until you are confident enough to do it on your own." Ming explained.

"Thank you so much," I replied.

"Okay Katara follow me," she motioned for me to follow her and I did.

As we walked down the hallways and corridors we talked. "So," Ming started. "I thought Katara was a water tribe name."

"It is," I hesitated. "My parents traveled a lot. Their favorite place they went to was the Northern Water Tribe. One night my father got a really bad cut. It was fatal. There was a healer that healed him. Her name was Katara. My parents were so thankful that she saved my father's life so the named me Katara in honor of her." I lied. I didn't even know I could lie like that.

"Wow," Ming said wide- eyed. "Your parents must have been very rich and important to travel all the way to the North Pole."

"They were artists," I lied once again. Where was all this lying coming from? I asked myself. "They went to different places to study the landscape and such."

"How fascinating," Ming replied to my enormous lie. "Do you ever travel with your parents?"

"No," I said quietly. "My mother died when I was very little." This wasn't a complete lie.

"Oh," Ming said, her eyes looking at her shoes. "What about your father then? Do you travel with him much?"

"No," I said. "He was killed in the war." This was a lie considering that my father was alive and well.

"Then what are you doing here in the capital if both of your parents are dead?" she asked.

"When my father went off to the war he left me with Hama the old innkeeper. She looked after my mother when she was a girl." I seriously felt like the biggest liar in the world. I wish I could tell Ming that I was captured from the Southern Water Tribe. I hated lying to her.

"That is great that you get to live with someone you must have known for most of your life."

"Yes it is," I replied.

"How did your parents get so much money to travel the world?" she asked eagerly.

"They were personal artists for Fire Lord Ozai's wife, Ursa." I had no idea where this was coming from.

"That is so cool. Did you ever get to me… oh here we are." She pointed to the door. "This is our class. We are a little late, but I think Madam Mayko will allow it."

We walked into the classroom and all eyes immediately came to me. I could feel my face getting hot as the embarrassment grew inside of me.

"You must be Katara. That is such an unusual Fire Nation name." she said

"My parents spent a great deal in the Northern Water Tribe studying art." I explained.

"Very good," Madam Mayko said. "If you would please take a seat next to Prince Zuko then we will begin class." I walked over to the empty seating next to Zuko.

I tried not to stare at him seeing how he was very attractive. His hair was in a top knot like the rest of everybody in the Fire Nation. He had a scar over most of the left side of his face.

"Okay," Madam Mayko started to say in a tired voice. "Let's begin…,"

The rest of the day was a blur.

_A/N: Well I hope you liked this chapter. Please Read and Review for me. Thanks!_


	4. What Happened After School

_A/N: This chapter is not as long as the last one was. Please enjoy!_

What Happened After School

It was the end of the day. I waited outside in the school courtyard for the person that was going to take me home. I was anxious to get back to the inn, for today I was going shopping with Hama.

I closed my eyes thinking of the South Pole. I just kept on thinking with the Fire Nation sun shining and beating down on my face. For a few minutes I had lost my bearings just thinking. I was quickly brought back to reality when a voice said my name.

"Katara," It said. "Um, I am supposed to take you home." I opened my eyes and found a scarred face staring at me. Zuko.

"Uh, hi," I said. I was so confused as why a prince would take me home. I thought he had people that would do things like that. Another question popped into my head. Why would Hama have the Prince of the Fire Nation take me home?

"Why… why are you taking me home?" I said with a hint of confusion in my voice.

"Oh," he said. "Hama needed someone to show you the way back to the inn."

"Yeah, but why the Prince of the Fire Nation?" I crossed my arms.

"My friend Mai was supposed to do it but she had a family thing, so I volunteered to do it for her."

We stood there in an awkward silence. "Well," I said breaking the silence. "That was very nice of you."

"Well we should…," he motioned to the gates of the school.

"Oh right," I replied.

"So, why aren't you home schooled?" I asked.

"My dad says that I am not worthy of being home schooled. He says that I am not in the same league as my sister." He looked up at the clear blue sky.

"That sucks," I said. "Where I used to live they didn't have schools. Our mothers taught us, in my case my friend's moms."

"Why is that?" he asked still looking up into the sky.

"Oh, um my mom died when I was about eight," I said hanging my head missing her the more I thought about it.

"My mother left me too." Zuko looked at me. "I woke up one morning and she was gone."

I nodded in response.

"So," Zuko sighed changing the subject. "Where did you live before you came here?"

"Actually I lived here for about a year," I lied. To me it wasn't safe lying to Zuko because he could find out my true identity.

"I do hope you know you are lying to me." I stopped dead in my tracks. I cannot believe how stupid I was. "I know all about you Katara from the Southern Water Tribe."

"How?" This was a very stupid question.

"Hello," he said. "Fire Nation Prince."

"Promise me you won't tell anyone."

"Don't worry," he said "I am forbidden to tell anyone about you or the plan."

I sighed. "Does anyone else know?"

"Only military personal," he replied. "You have nothing to worry about."

"Thanks, I guess," I turned away from him.

"Well, there is Hama's house."

"Thank you so much for this," I started running towards the inn too nervous to speak to Zuko.

* * *

I burst through the door of the inn. I ran up stairs to my room and collapsed on my bed. I started to cry. I was afraid that after the eclipse they would kill me or imprison me. I was so afraid. I wish I had Aang and Sokka here with me. I missed them so much.

"Katara," Hama came into my room. "Are you alright sweet pea?"

I lifted my body off of the bed and sat on the floor. "I don't know if I can stay here like this. I have lied today more than I have my entire life."

Hama kneeled by me and put her motherly arm around me. "Let's not think about the future. Let us only think about the task at hand."

"What's that?" I raised my head to look at her.

"Shopping." I laughed at this. "Let's get out of here sweet pea," she smiled.

I stood up, wiped off my puffy red face and left the inn with Hama.

We went to the shopping district of the Fire Nation capital. It was huge. I have never seen anything like it. It was completely foreign to me.

"Okay Katara," Hama grabbed my arm and pulled me into a little shop. Pick anything you want."

"There are so many things to choose from," I said completely overwhelmed.

"Well if you want my opinion I think you look absolutely gorgeous in full long skirts." Hama went to a clothing shelf and grabbed some skirts of various colors. "I also like the shirts that come just above your belly button. But if you want something different that is your decision."

"How are you paying for this?" I asked guiltily.

"Don't worry about that sweet pea," she replied grabbing more clothes for me to try on. "It's my treat."

After we had pretty much bought out the store, we went to go buy some shoes.

"Now Katara," Hama said to me with a bit of caution. "A woman could never have enough shoes. Please buy how ever many you feel is necessary." I started to giggle.

"How about these?" I pointed to a pair of sandals. They were brown in color and had these ties that were meant to go up your ankles.

"I think they are beautiful." Hama smiled. "They go with your hair."

"I like these," Hama motioned me over to the shoes. They were heels. They were red and gorgeous. There were white jewels all over the shoes.

"Me too," I replied. I have never had anything so valuable in my life, besides my mother's necklace.

"We best be getting back," Hama said looking at the sunset outside. "It's getting late."

On the way home we had a time of it. We had so many bags full of clothing. We walked very clumsily back to the inn.

I cannot believe that all of this was mine. I was very grateful for all that Hama has done for me.

We were inside the inn when Hama said, "Katara why don't you take this nightgown and go to bed. I will wash the rest of you clothes and put them in your room. You just go to bed."

"Are you sure you don't want me to help?" I said holding the nightgown.

"No," she said. "You had a rough day. You should get some rest."

"Okay," I went upstairs to my room. I changed into my nightgown. It was the color of dried blood on your skin. Dark red with that brownish tint to it. The nightgown had thin straps and went down to my knees.

I climbed into the soft warm bed thinking of nothing but sleep. I stared up at the moon. Drawing comfort from it, I fell asleep.

_A/N: I hope you like this chapter. Please Read and Review!_


	5. Meeting Mai and Ty Lee

_A/N: I really appreciate all of the reviews. I have only one thing to ask. If you do leave a review and you didn't really like that chapter, just don't say it was horrible. Please say what you didn't like about it or what I should do to make it better. I work well with constructive criticism. If you could do that for me I would love you forever. Please enjoy this next chapter!_

Meeting Mai and Ty Lee

I woke up the next morning completely sore. I slowly got up out of my bed and walked to the mirror, yawning all the way there. When I looked into the mirror, I noticed that I had imprints of the sheets and blankets on my arms, legs and face.

I didn't feel like going to school today. After my little chat with Prince Zuko yesterday, I was angry at him. I didn't know why, but I was.

Maybe it was the fact that he could use his knowledge that I was a water bender. I was afraid that he would. If it wasn't for his awful, horrible, ancestors that had a thirst for power, I wouldn't be here. The war wouldn't exist. I was afraid.

I stopped thinking, left my mirror and got dressed. I couldn't think about this anymore.

I grabbed my school bag, containing my homework and school books and went downstairs.

"Hello sweet pea," Hama smiled when I got downstairs. "I heard you had a bit of a rough time on your walk home yesterday."

"It was nothing," I said sheepishly as I sat down.

"Oh honey there is no need to be so shy about it," she set down a plate of food in front me. "It's not your fault. It's that royal scum. He is the one who put you in that position. You, sweet cakes, had nothing to do with it."

"Thanks Hama," I said as I slouched in my chair. "I'm really not hungry."

"You need your strength for you r second day of school," she insisted. "Eat up sweet pie." To make Hama happy I grabbed my fork and started to eat my fire pancakes.

After I finished my breakfast we were out the door.

"You know once you know the way you can go by yourself," Hama said walking beside me.

"I never really liked being alone." I replied looking straight ahead and into the sun. "All my life I had someone with me. First it was my mother. I was always with her. When she died my brother and I kept each other company. When my dad left for the war my brother had to look after the village. All the men left. It was just the women, children and him. After he took responsibility of the tribe, I started to spend more time with my Gran Gran."

"You must have been very close with your family," she said.

"Yeah," I said slowly. "I guess I was."

"Well here we are," Hama pointed to the Fire Nation School. "I guess I will see you after school." I gave Hama hug and then started walking.

I was almost inside when Hama yelled, "Katara! I forgot to tell you that I can't pick you up again. Someone will take you home!" Hama waved and I went inside the building.

* * *

School was just the same as it was yesterday. Except today Zuko wasn't there. Ming said he had a family matter, but for some reason I didn't believe her. From what he said about his dad, I was a little worried.

School had finally ended. I was so grateful to get out of there. I was completely bored all day long.

I was waiting outside for the person who was supposed to take me home. I stood there for what seemed like an eternity, and then a girl in pink and a girl with long black hair approached me.

"You must be Katara!" the girl in pink said cheerfully. "I'm Ty Lee and this is Mai." She pointed to the gloomy black haired girl.

"We were supposed to take you home yesterday," the girl named Mai said. "But Zuko insisted that he'd do it."

"Oh," I said surprised. "He told me that you had a family matter." I stood there very self- conscious.

"That ass," she said in a monotonous tone.

I must have had a look of confusion because Ty Lee said to me, "He is Mai's boyfriend. They have a love/hate relationship."

I nodded.

We started to walk down the road to the inn. "Are you friends with Princess Azula then?" I asked Mai and Ty Lee.

"Used to be," Mai replied.

"What happened?" I asked curious.

"She became too controlling. Always ordering us around like her damn servants." Mai had no expression. "She wanted us to fear her. I didn't and neither did Ty Lee. We were sick of it."

"You see," Ty Lee cut in. "She is just like her father and every other royal, except for her mother and Uncle Iroh. She always needs everything to be her way. She is very smart, except when it comes to socializing with other people. She is completely out of whack in that department." Surprisingly Ty Lee had a smile on her face. I figured that talking about this would make her a little uneasy.

When we got to the inn I started to go inside when Mai said, "We'll see you tomorrow. We'll tell you what's up with His Royal Ass tomorrow." Mai and Ty Lee waved me goodbye.

I hope that we could become friends.

_A/N: I know this chapter is a little short but I hope you like it. I am planning for the next chapter to be when Hama teaches Katara some water bending techniques. Please Read and Review! Constructive criticism please! _


	6. Water Bending with Hama

_A/N: I'm glad that you enjoyed the last chapter. Here is chapter 6! Enjoy!_

Water Bending with Hama

The sun was setting. Thankfully I was done with my homework and didn't have to light any lamps.

I was sitting at the desk and putting my things in my school bag for tomorrow. I got up and pushed the chair in. I walked over to the chair in the corner and sat my bag down there. When I was about ready to go down to the dining room there was a knock on my door.

"Katara," Hama said. "May I please talk to you?"

I walked over to my door and opened it. "Yes," I said. I walked out into the hallway.

"How would you like me to teach you water bending?" Hama sighed.

"Really?" I choked out, too stunned to barely make a sound. "I would love that." I gave Hama a hug. "When do we start?" I asked eagerly.

"We can start now if you wish."

"Would I ever," I said gleefully.

I followed Hama outside of the inn. We walked a little ways until we got to a pasture filled with fire lilies.

"First thing we need to do is to see if you are capable of healing abilities." Hama walked away from me.

"Healing abilities?" I asked.

"Water benders have the ability to heal. Not every water bender can but some," she explained. "I am going to cut my finger just slightly and we'll see if you can heal it."

Hama pulled out a little knife and when she was about to prick her self I said loudly, "Wait! I don't have any water."

"Oh," Hama laughed. "Looks like I am getting older each minute. I can be so forgetful. Here." Hama water bended the water out of some of the lilies. I was shocked. I decided not to ask any questions, seeing how I had a lesson to learn first.

Hama passed the water to me and I got ready for Hama to cut her finger. Hama pricked her finger and I walked over there to heal it.

I put both of my hands and her hand. Two water like gloves formed around my hands. The water started to glow. In just seconds Hama's finger was completely healed.

"Very good Katara," she praised. "I am very proud of you."

"Can you heal?" I asked.

"No," she replied nonchalantly. "It's a good thing you can though. Being able to heal is quite an advantage for a water bender."

"What do we do now?" I asked eagerly.

"One more thing you must know is that almost everything has water in it. Even in the desert," she explained. "You can draw water from anything and everything."

"Like you did with those flowers," I said.

"Exactly. I have a little story to tell you Katara," Hama said and started walking. I quickly followed her.

Once I caught up with her she started her story.

"When I was captured I was taken to a Fire Nation prison. The other water benders and I were kept in a dry hot room. They would only give us water when our hands and feet were tied up she we couldn't bend. I soon realized that where there is life there is water. I started to bend the water inside of the prison rats. Once I mastered the rats, it was time for the men." As Hama told me the story I got more and more horrified as the seconds past.

"Anyway," she continued. "I started to bend the men. I controlled their bodies. They had no power over me. The guards who were supposed to keep me locked up let me out. That is how I escaped that awful Fire Nation prison."

"But why?" I asked.

"Because I was tired of living on someone else's schedule. I wanted to be free." I sort of knew what she went through. "When I was about in my twenties I had a lot of anger inside of me. I took that anger out on other innocent Fire Nation people. People that had nothing to do with me getting locked up. As time past I regretted blood bending those people. That is something I will have to live with forever."

"Is that what it is called? Blood bending?" I squeaked.

"Yes," she said as she hung her head in shame. She picked her head up and looked at me. "I will only teach you this technique as long as you promise me you won't use for anything but defense. I learned the hard way."

I wondered about this for a bit. I wondered if I could ever trust Hama again. As if reading my mind she said, "Katara I hope you still trust me. I just want you to be able to defend yourself."

"It's okay Hama," I said taking her older hand into my younger hand. "I don't judge people by their past. I only judge them by how they act now. I think you have been wonderful to me." Hama pulled me into a hug.

"Thank you Katara," she whispered. "Now it's time for us to get back. You have to get to bed. School is tomorrow."

We walked back to the inn in silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence.

It was a kind of silence that made you feel happy and safe.

_A/N: Sorry this chapter is short too. Next chapter will be extra long. I hope you enjoy it! Please R&R!_


	7. What I Found at the Palace

_A/N:This chapter is sort of long. Enjoy!_

What I Found at the Palace

I woke up the next morning very tired. All of the information I had learned the night before was starting to sink in. That I had the ability to heal and that Hama would teach me blood bending.

I didn't know how I felt about blood bending. It scared me and at the same time made me feel powerful. I didn't really want to be powerful.

I went through my morning routine. I got ready for school. I grabbed my school bag and was out the door.

I went downstairs to the kitchen where Hama was making breakfast.

"Hello there sweet pea," she smiled. "I made waffles this morning." Hama set a plate at the table. I walked to the table, sat on the chair, grabbed a fork and started eating.

"Thanks Hama," I said with my mouth full.

"I need you to do a favor for me today."

I swallowed and said, "What?"

"I need you to go to the royal palace and tell them that Hama sent you," she replied. Hama turned to the sink and started to wash one of the many dishes.

"What for?" I asked slowly.

"I can't tell you. I'm sorry sweet pea." We looked at each other for a while, until Hama turned back around to finish the dishes.

"Okay," I dropped my fork on my plate, grabbed my school bag and was out the door.

I was halfway through the inn yard when I remembered that I didn't know the way yet. How could I forget something like that? I waited for a few minutes and saw Hama running to catch up with me.

"Sorry Katara," she said out of breath. "I forgot that you don't know the way to school yet."

* * *

I was in Madam Mayko's class learning about the very fascinating history of the Fire Nation. Personally I could care less about the Fire Nation. But as long as I was there I might as well learned something.

I must have fallen asleep because Madam Mayko's shrill voice woke me up. I could feel everyone's eyes on me.

"Katara," she said. "Would you care to share with us that little comment?"

I had no clue what she was talking about. "What comment?" I asked.

"I don't know you tell us," Madam Mayko countered.

"Um…," I hesitated. "I said…that I…really needed some purple squirrel bear meat." Madam Mayko was still staring at me. "My parents used to make for me when I was a girl." This seemed to satisfy Madam Mayko, for she turned around and continued with the lesson

After Madam Mayko's very boring lesson it was time for lunch. This was possibly my favorite part of the day.

I met up with Ming and we sat in the courtyard eating and talking. I never had a real friend. Ming was my first friend.

We were laughing when Mai and Ty Lee came and joined us."

"How was the rest of your day yesterday?" Ty Lee asked in her bubbly voice.

"It was okay," I replied.

"Hey Katara?" Mai said. "Are you coming to the palace after school today?"

"Um… I think so," I said.

"Okay," she replied in her flat tone. "We'll meet up with you after school."

"So Katara," Ty Lee said. "How is life in the Fire Nation capital going for you so far?"

"It's okay I guess," I said as I ate my apple. "I still don't know my way around yet."

"We'll help you," Ty Lee offered in her bubbly way of speaking.

"Thank you so much," I replied. "I would love that." I took another bite of my apple. "So do any of you know why I have to go to the palace today?" I asked.

"I..," Mai started to say but the school gong interrupted her.

"Guess we have to get back to class," Ty Lee stood up with Mai and they left, leaving Ming and I alone.

"Let's go Katara," Ming said. I stood up and walked back into the school.

* * *

The school day was finally over. I have no idea how these Fire Nation kids do it. School is so boring. I never went to school so it was new for me.

I met up with Mai and Ty Lee after school in front of the Fire Lord Ozai statue.

"Hey guys," I said as I approached them.

"Hi Katara," Ty Lee said as she waved.

"So," Mai said as she filed her nails. "Let's get to the palace before Azula shoots full of lightning."

I looked at Ty Lee and mouthed 'I don't get it' she just shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.

"So where exactly is the palace?" I asked.

"It is right in front of Mai's house," Ty Lee answered.

"And where is Mai's house?" I asked confused.

"Right here," Mai replied out of no where.

Her house was a dark brown color. It looked like it had at least three stories. Her house was huge.

"What does your father do?" I asked Mai.

"He's a politician," she yawned. "In my opinion that is the most boring thing in the world."

"See," started Ty Lee. "There is the palace." Ty Lee was right. The palace really was in front of Mai's house.

"So is there a secret password or something?" I whispered.

"Katara," Ty Lee whispered back. "Why are you whispering?"

"Just in case they're watching," I whispered.

"Watching what?" she replied whispering.

"I don't know," I whispered. "Just a precaution I guess."

"What are you two whispering about?" Mai demanded.

"Nothing," I replied quickly.

We reached the gates of the palace and they just opened.

"So is there is a password?" I asked.

"Katara," Ty Lee looked at me.

"Sorry," I said. Mai and Ty Lee walked in first and I followed them.

"So where are we going?" I asked.

"Once we get into the palace one of the Fire Lord's advisors will take you where you need to go." Mai said.

The walk through the court yard seemed like forever. It was so long. We finally reached the palace and went in.

"Hello Miss Mai," a man in red robes greeted us.

"Hey Chang," Mai said in her monotonous tone. "This is Katara, could you please escort her to the place she need to be."

"Certainly," Chang agreed. "Right this way Miss Katara." Chang motioned for me to follow him.

* * *

We walked in silence all the way to this grand looking door. Here we stopped.

Chang turned to me and said, "Katara, you may go in." He opened the door for me and went into the dark room. The door slammed shut and I jumped.

I found a window that was covered up with heavy deep red drapes. I pulled them open but not much. I was afraid that I was going to wake the figure that I could hear stirring around. There was a ray of light that allowed me to get my bearings.

I was in a bedroom. It was a large room. There was a four-poster bed in the middle of the room. The coverings on the bed were deep red. They matched the drapes. I could see the figure was under the covers. It was breathing hard and fast.

I quickly went to the side of the bed, lifted the covers off of the figure and to my surprise there was Prince Zuko.

"Zuko," I said softly.

"Mmmm…," he moaned in response.

He sounded like he was sick. I put my hand on his forehead. He had a really bad fever. I also noticed that he was sweating from the way his long shaggy hair stuck to his forehead. He was sweating a lot which is never a good sign.

I threw the blankets off of him. He was lying on his stomach with his hand pressed to his side. I flipped him over. He hissed in pain as I did this.

I removed his hand from his and saw that most of his left side had a deep gash. I could tell that it was infected. Most of his torso was all bloodied up from the gash.

I had no idea what to do. I was completely blank. Then I realized that I could heal. That's when it hit me. Hama sent me here to heal Zuko. If I didn't heal him he would most likely die.

I found that there was a basin full of water in the corner of the room. I bended the water to form the water gloves around my hands. I pressed my hands against the gash. In only a minutes time the whole gash vanished. It was healed. I healed it.

Zuko sighed. "Who are you?"

"It's Katara," I said stroking his hair.

"Katara?" he asked weakly.

"Yes, it's Katara," I said once more.

"Oh yeah," he smiled a small smile. "The water bending girl,"

"Yes," I replied. "You are going to be okay. Just sleep Zuko."

Zuko obeyed, closed his eyes and went to sleep.

I stayed at Zuko's side. I didn't leave him. I wanted to be sure that he was healed. That he was going to be okay. I just sat on the other side of his bed stroking his hair.

_A/N: So what do you think happened to Zuko? I hoped this chapter makes you happy. Please R&R!_


	8. When I was Talking to Zuko

_A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. I'm glad you liked the little bit of Zutara in there. I know most of you are probably very anxious of seeing what happened to Zuko. Please enjoy this next chapter._

When I Was Talking to Zuko

I woke up to a loud bang. I jerked awake and found myself in a strange bed. It was a four-poster with deep red coverings. I found myself sleeping next to a person. I was so confused. I had no idea where I was at. Then it all came back to me.

I was sleeping in the Prince of the Fire Nation's room, in his bed. I was right up next to him. He was wearing nothing but a pair of sleep pants. They were brown in color. I could fell my face burn with embarrassment.

I got off of the bed ever so quietly. I tried not to wake him. That didn't last long. As I walked over to the door to retrieve my school bag, Zuko sat up in his bed.

"What are you doing here?" he asked groggily.

"I healed you side." I reached for my school bag that was sitting on the floor. I could see Zuko touch his side.

"But it was all bloody and infected," Zuko said.

I sighed and dropped my school bag. "You know how I'm a water bender?" Zuko nodded. I walked over to his bed and sat down at the edge. "Well water benders have to potential to have healing powers. I have healing powers."

"Did you always know you had healing abilities?" he asked

"I didn't know until last night." I laughed.

"Well," he started to say. "Thank you."

"No problem." I started to get off the bed but then something stopped me. "Zuko," I said. "What really happened to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"All of the workers here told me you cut yourself looking at swords or something. Is that true?"

"Do you really want to know the truth?" I nodded. "Okay well it started the day I walked you home. When I got back to the palace, my father was having a war meeting. One of his advisors told me that my father needed my opinion on something. I know my father well enough that he would never ask my opinion. I went into the throne room. There was my father sitting in behind the fire ring. I bowed to him like the perfect prince. When I started to stand up he attacked me." Zuko was hanging his head and playing with the hem of his pants.

"What did he do to cut you so badly?" I asked. I was looking at him.

"He shot me full of lightning," he said quietly. "But… my uncle was there and saved me from the worst of it. He redirected it but some of it still sliced through me."

"What did you do to deserve that?" I asked.

Zuko looked at me. "I walked you home."

I looked at Zuko with a confused look on my face. "Mai was supposed to walk you home and tell the generals how you were going to help them. I didn't want Mai to get involved in this. I did it for her. When I started talking to you I realized that you need to get back to the South Pole."

I could feel the tears well up in my eyes. "You think I should go back to the South Pole?" I said choked up.

"No," he said still looking at me with his narrow orange eyes. "I _know _you should go back to the South Pole."

I felt tears stream down my face as he told me this. Zuko went to go wipe away my tears when Mai came through the door.

"Hey Zuko," she said as she walked over to the window and threw open the drapes. Both Zuko and I winced as the light made its way through the room.

"Hello Mai," he said lovingly to her.

"Well," I said nervously. "I guess I should get back home." I got off the bed and grabbed my school bag. "Oh, um Mai what time is it?' I asked.

"It's morning," she said smoothly.

"WHAT!" I screamed. "What about school?"

"Don't worry Katara," Mai replied. "There is no school. It's the weekend."

"Oh," I said calmly. "Well then I guess I will be going home." I turned around and opened the door.

"Wait!" Mai said. I faced her. "Would you like to hang out with us today?"

"Sure," I said. "Is it okay if I go home and get changed?"

"How about," Mai started. "We wait for Zuko to get some clothes on and then we leave and we go to your house."

"Are you sure it's okay for Zuko to go out? I mean…,"

"Katara," Zuko cut me off. "I'm fine thanks to you."

I smiled. "Okay, if you don't mind the trouble."

"Let's get out of here and let Zuko get some crap on so he doesn't wander around the Fire Nation nude." Mai grabbed my arm and took me out of the room.

"Thank you for letting me hang out with you," I said to her.

"I am so grateful that you saved Zuko for me," Mai said. I could see tears well up in her eyes. "He was so close to leaving me forever that I just want to thank you." I walked over to Mai and pulled her into a hug.

"You're welcome."

_A/N: This chapter is a bit short. I hope you like this chapter. Please give me some of your feedback. Please R&R!_


	9. Shopping with Mai and Talking

_A/N: I am so sorry it took me forever to update. School was about to end and I had so much homework. I feel so horrible for making you guys wait like a decade for me to update. Well read and review this new chapter please. _

Shopping with Mai and Talking

"Okay Katara," Mai said. "We need to get you out of that uniform. Let's take you back to your house so you can get changed."

Mai went into Zuko's room. She was in there for quite a few minutes.

When she came back out Zuko followed her out of his room. "Okay let's go," Zuko said in a grumpy manner.

We walked back to the inn for me to change. I ran inside the inn to find Hama sitting at the kitchen table reading a cooking book.

"Hello Katara," she smiled. "How was your little sleep over with Ming?"

"What?" I asked confused.

"Well Mai sent a messenger hawk saying that she, Ty Lee, Ming and you were having a little girls night out."

"Oh," I said. "I just had a little black out moment there for a second."

"So what are you going to today?" she asked.

"Mai and I are going shopping. I just came home to change," I said turning around to go upstairs.

I went upstairs and put on a deep red skirt and just a red t- shirt.

I ran downstairs and out the door, saying goodbye to Hama on my way out.

When I was back outside Zuko looked annoyed. "What took you so long?" I didn't respond, I just shrugged my shoulders.

"Zuko," Mai cut in. "Don't question her. She is a girl; she has to take her time getting ready."

We started walking to the market. Mai and Zuko held hands the way there. I felt like I was just in the way. Like a third wheel. When we got to the market Mai immediately let go of Zuko's hand and took mine. She dragged me all through the market, wanting me to see this or that. I never knew that she could be so giddy.

"Mai," I said. "Why do you want me to see all of these things?"

"Well you are new here and I figured that we could make this a usual thing," she replied.

"But," I said quickly. "Why would you want to be friends with me?"

She stopped. She turned around and faced me. "You are different, Katara. You are not the rich power hungry type like most of the people here. You are more appreciative of things." Mai sighed. "I know I seem a bit dull, but I am that way too. I just don't express it as well as you do."

"So you are telling me that we have things in common?" I asked dumbly.

"Yes," she said. "That is exactly what I am saying." Mai smiled. It was one of the first smiles I have seen from her.

"Uh," I said snapped out of my gaze. "Where did Zuko go?" Mai spun around trying to find him.

"Who cares?" she said freely. "He's a lost cause anyway."

"Why do you say that?" I said as we walked down the market place.

"He is not one to be in groups. He likes individual attention." I tilted my head. "It's always been like that ever since we were kids. I would play with Azula and Ty Lee and he would cling to his mother. I can't blame him though. Azula and his father treated him like crap. His mother was the only person who really cherished him." Mai was silent for what seemed like hours. "I never really knew who he was until he started to go to school. That was when I started to cherish him."

"What do you love about him so much?" I asked.

"I don't really know. I think the only reason why I love him so much is because I worry about him. I'm scared for him. I think I also feel sorry for him in a way."

"So, what you are really saying is that you are more like his mother than girlfriend?" I said.

"I guess," she replied looking straight ahead. I could see the tears pooling in her eyes. "I never really thought about it that way."

"I understand how you feel." I said to her putting my arm around her shoulders.

"How?" she asked.

"Because, that's the way I feel about you." After I said this, Mai's cheeks were stained with tears.

"Why do you say that?" she asked sobbing.

"Because I know you've never had anyone to comfort you."

Mai stopped walking. "How do you know that?"

"The inn keeper knows everything." Mai didn't get offended. She just nodded.

"Hama does know all of the town gossip." Mai said this with a bit amusement in her voice.

"Mai," I said to her. "Let's not get down and go get something smothered in chocolate." She laughed.

"I love chocolate."

"Who doesn't," I said.

"Zuko hates chocolate," she told me.

"He does not." I said astounded. Mai nodded. "That's just weird."

"I know," she replied.

_A/N: Again I am so sorry. I am sorry for this chapter is short. It was either this or nothing. I hoped you enjoyed it. Please review. I promise to get another chapter by the end of next week._


	10. Escape Attempt

_A/N: Thank you for all of the reviews. I am really glad you guys and gals aren't mad at me. Thank you to everyone who has read this story. I really appreciate it. Well here you go. Enjoy!_

Escape Attempt

Mai and I were sitting in a Chocolate store eating and drinking chocolate. I was having a chocolate covered strawberry sampler and an insanely good cup of chocolate milk. It was more like cooled melted chocolate. It was thick and creamy. Mai had chocolate doves (chocolate molded in the shape of doves) and chocolate milk, the same as me.

"So why doesn't Zuko like chocolate?" I asked.

"He had a bad experience with chocolate."

I laughed. "How do you have a bad experience with chocolate?" I said with a smile upon my lips.

"Well, when we were about eleven we came to this exact shop with my mom and got some chocolate. Zuko got a spiced chocolate truffle. Azula was with us and she had something up her sleeve. She gave Zuko's truffle a bit more spice than needed. She was given the bag of chocolate and she spiced Zuko's truffle. It was so hot that his face turned purple and he started to cry. We had to take him home and stick his face in a bucket of ice water. The things Azula did are exactly the reason why I am not her friend anymore." Mai took sip of her chocolate milk.

"That is so awful," I said.

"Yeah she was pretty horrible to him." Mai looked outside. "It's starting to get dark so I better get home."

"Oh yeah," I said as we stood up. "I guess I should go too."

When we walked out of the store, I noticed Zuko leaning up against the wall.

"Hey," Zuko said. "So, are we going home?"

"Katara, are you alright to walk home?" Mai asked.

"I think so," I said unsurely, looking around to find my way.

"Zuko, can you get her back in one piece?" Mai asked, or demanded.

"Yeah, I guess," he replied lacking an emotion.

"Thank you." Mai walked over to him and gave him a kiss. "See you later." Mai waved as we left.

"So, Zuko how are things?" I was trying really hard to talk to him. I sighed. "More specifically, how is your side?"

"Why do you care?" he slashed.

"Because," I sighed. "I worry about people who are or were suffering. I just want you to be okay."

"Yeah whatever," he mumbled.

"Okay, what is your problem? I am just asking if you are okay. I don't know what the hell your problem is but I am just…," I fumed.

"Just what?"

"Just freaking annoyed with you."

"Like I care you water tribe tramp." My mouth hung open. I could feel tears prickling in my eyes.

"You can just forget the last two days ever happened. Next time your father slashes your body apart, you can find another person the heal you." I started to run.

"Katara," Zuko called out.

I turned around. "No! You are the most crazed person. Just leave me alone. I hate you. I hate everyone who made me come here and didn't do anything about it. I hate you and I hate the Fire Nation." I turn and ran. I didn't know where I was going. All I knew was that I had to get out.

* * *

I went to the beach. That was the only place where I felt comfortable. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I knew I was going to do something.

I started to bend the water. Just pulling it and pushing it. I decided I needed to leave. I walked up and down the beach in search of a boat. Not a fancy boat, just one to get me close to the South Pole. I finally found one near a boulder. I dragged it out, using all of the strength I had. I got it out on to the water fine. I climbed in and started to go out with the current.

I got off the coast fine and without being noticed. I sailed off the mainland with ease and I was free. I was free of being controlled by everyone. I was so relived to be gone. As I feeling free, I remembered Hama. And Mai. And Ming and how I left them without even one thought. Instead of feeling free as I had a few minutes before, I felt guilty and sad.

I couldn't do anything. I just sat in that boat and thought of Hama, Mai, and Ming. I made my own family there. I just couldn't leave them behind. As much as I loved my own family, I wasn't ready to go back. I needed my friends. I needed them. I needed to tell them who I really was, where I was really from. So I jumped. I jumped out of the boat and swam back to the Fire Nation capital.

I couldn't bend any water. I was too tired to do anything. Even though I was tired I still swam. I swam until I saw land meet the horizon. I was getting more and more tired. I needed to give myself a push to reach the land. I tried to bend some waves but I just couldn't do it. I tried so hard. I finally lost the strength to do anything. The most I could do was keep my head from going under the water. Finally, I just couldn't do it anymore.

My Gran Gran once told me that when she dies, she wants to be taken by the ocean. She said that the ocean never lies when it wants to consume someone. It's just the nature of the ocean. She told me that drowning is the most peaceful and comforting death. Nothing can ever be like the ocean. It may seem terrifying, but at the same time it is like being rocked by your mother for the first time. For me it was like being rocked my mother on my way to meet her. It was like being welcomed back to my mother and to her embrace. At that moment I wanted to die. I really wanted to leave this frightful Earth and be somewhere peaceful. That was until I was rescued.

_A/N: Please R&R! _


	11. Zuko's Thoughts

_A/N: I hope you guys liked the last chapter. I think this is an update record for me. _

Zuko's Thoughts

I was floating in the water with me eyes barely open. I was slowly drifting away from the land I swam towards too. I was slowly falling asleep. I tried to pry my eyes open with force, but the drowsiness found me. I was slipping into a world unknown to me. I could feel my body slip away. I knew I was as good as dead.

I woke up on a hard surface. I found myself waking up to boy sitting on the other end of the row boat I was in. I slowing lifted my head to see more clearly who it was. When my eyes, still stinging from the salt water, finally focused on the figure, it was none other than Prince Zuko himself.

"What are you doing here?" I gasped out of breath.

"Thanks to me you are not dead." He grabbed my arms and helped me sit up. As I sat up I felt a burning pain rush over my head.

"Ow," I hissed in pain. Zuko grabbed my arms to help me sit up. I shrugged him off. "Why do you care what happens to me?" I said clutching my ringing head.

"Well after I insulted you…,"

"Chose your words wisely Zuko." I warned

"I realized I needed to go after you and apologize." He grabbed the oars of the row boat and started to row to shore.

"How far did you get before you realized all of this?" I asked him in a whisper, as this was the only voice I could muster.

"I was back in the palace in my room." Zuko sighed. "I ran back to find. I ran all the way to the beach when I found your footsteps in the sand. I also found a trail of a boat. Let me say one thing, you sure get far away from the mainland fast."

"Well, I am a waterbender," I said matter-of-factly. "So, where did you find me?"

"I found you a few miles from coast. You were just barely breathing." Zuko hung his head. "I got a boat and found you. I got you out of the water. You were full of water so I…," Zuko stopped. I saw the red rise to his cheeks.

"You what?" I knew where this was going. I could feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment as well.

"I had to do the mouth- to- mouth thing to save your life. I'm s…,"

"I didn't ask for your help," I snapped.

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

"I want to be away from this horrid place."

"Why?"

"It's not what I like. I hate the Fire Nation and what they did to me. To my mother. What they plan for in the future." I rubbed my arm. It was itching very badly. I looked at my left arm and noticed an angry cut against my tan skin.

Zuko noticed this. "Oh um, when I pulled you into the boat your arm got caught and it was cut."

"It's okay I can heal it." I bended some water out of the ocean and put one of my hands on my arm. The water glove around my hand glowed for a moment and my arm was healed.

"We should be getting back," Zuko said as he squinted at the setting sun.

"Zuko," I sighed. "Why do you care so much about me?"

"Huh?" he asked quizzically.

"I mean you tell me that you want to take me back to the South Pole and you rescue me. You make sure I don't fall off of the planet. Why do you care about me so much? I mean I've only been here for a few days and you have made it a point to protect me."

"I guess it's because I don't have anybody else." Zuko dipped his hand in the water.

"What do you mean you don't have anybody else?" I squinted against the sun.

"Well my sister and father suck, Mai is more like my mother, I don't really talk to Ty Lee and I don't have any friends. Not ones that I see everyday at least."

"So I'm the only one," I said dumbly.

"Katara," Zuko whispered. "I am really sorry for what I said. I was crabby and Mai was annoying me. If I could take you back to your home I would. I just want you to be happy."

"Me too. But if I have to stay here on force, then I guess I should get used to it. The capital isn't all that bad. I just don't like what your father is doing to the world.

"What?" he said shocked.

"It's okay here. At the South Pole my father is gone and my brother and Aang are gone too. The only thing I have left there is my Grandma. She never really paid attention to us that much. I guess in the days I've been here I've made myself a home."

"You have?"

"Well sure. I guess its okay here. I actually have friends and someone who listens to me."

"Who is that?" Zuko asked.

"You," I said quietly.

"Me?"

"Yeah," I replied. I sighed and looked out to the sea. I saw land. "We are almost there so I guess I will give the boat a little push." When I started to give it some waves there was a big lightning of pain going throughout my body. "Nigh," I said in pain.

"Katara, are you okay?" Zuko said in urgency.

"Yeah, I guess I shouldn't be bending right now." I grabbed my arm. It was searing with pain.

"Yeah, you should rest until we get to land." Zuko suggested. He rowed the boat faster.

I leaned against the side of boat and closed my eyes. Before I knew it we were back.

"Katara," Zuko said quietly as he shook me lightly. "Wake up." My eyes fluttered open. "We're back." I tried to stand up but I stumbled. "Whoa. Here Katara, let me carry you."

I nodded. "Good idea."

Zuko picked me up and I wrapped my arms around his neck. He took me back to the inn. While I was in his arms I feel asleep.

* * *

I woke up the next morning in my bed. I was so sore from the day before. My arm was still stinging a bit from the cut. I looked over only to find Zuko, with his shaggy black hair, closed eyes and exposed chest, next to me. This was weird; but nice to look at.

"Zuko," I said shaking him violently, trying not to injure my arm even more. I was trying not to be too loud either.

"Wha," he groaned.

"Why are you in my room?" I whispered violently.

"What?" he shot so quickly he was like a Jack- in- the-Box. "I'm in your room?"

"Yes."

"This is slightly awkward," he said rubbing his shaggy hair covered head.

"Um, Zuko?" I said.

"Yeah," he answered.

"I have to tell you something," I said with my voice shaking.

I had feelings for Zuko. I needed to tell him. Even though he did insult me and my culture, I still liked him a lot. I couldn't go through the pining process that some girls do. I had to tell Zuko he deserved it.

"Go for it," he said casually.

"I, um, sort- of well, oh hell I like you." I said. I felt heat burn my cheeks.

"You like me?" he asked with an astounded look on his face.

"Yeah well more like I like you a ton. I guess I had a crush on you when I first got here." I could feel even more embarrassment rise in me.

"Really?"

"Yeah." I replied playing with the comforter on my bed

"Katara," he said softly. "I don't like you."

"Hmm, yeah I tell you how I feel about you and…," I said thinking he was going to embarrass me and tell me that he only is doing this because someone told him to. Why would he be in my room in my bed if he was just being nice to me?

"I love you," Zuko looked into my eyes. I looked right back in his fiery golden eyes.

"You what? Are you kidding me?" I whispered and on the verge of crying.

"I love you Katara."

"I… you just don't say something like that so casually. How could you love me? You've only know me for a few days," I said now with tears pooling out of my eyes.

"Shhh," he put his finger on my lips, signaling to silence me. "I love you. How do you feel about that?"

I leaned over to Zuko and gave him a kiss. "I love you too," I told him as I gazed in his orange, brown eyes. Zuko wrapped his arms around my waist and started to kiss me.

"Katara, there is no one I would rather be with. Not even Mai. Your eyes are a bit wet," he told me.

"I'm crying you ass," I gasped.

"Right," he said nonchalantly.

After he said this we just kept on kissing, enjoying each other; exploring each other's mouths. That was until Hama walked in.

"Katara…," Hama stopped dead in her tracks. "I'll just come back when I don't have two sexually frustrated teens in my inn." Hama walked away in what seemed complete shock.

"I guess I wasn't exactly what she was looking for." Zuko laughed. I joined in with him.

"Yeah, she was probably expecting like a llama moose or something," I said.

_A/N: I hope you guys loved this chapter. I know Zuko and Katara do. Please please R&R!_


	12. Master Water Bending

_A/N: Sorry about the long wait. I have been like crazy busy. I actually wrote this chapter during my trip to Scotland. I just never put it into the computer. I have been at band most of the time. Band season is coming up sooner than I would like and so is school. Well I hope you like this chapter. Happy reading!_

Master Water Bending

It was the day after Zuko told me he was in love with me. After Hama caught us making out, Zuko left really fast.

I was sitting in my big comfy chair in the corner of my wispy, beach like room. It was about time for me to get ready for school. I sat in that chair for a few minutes and then went to the bathroom to get ready for school. I put my uniform on and put my hair in a pony tail. I grabbed my school bag and tiredly walked to the kitchen of the inn.

At the old wooden kitchen table, Hama was sitting reading a scroll about the news in the town.

"Hello Katara," she said sweetly as if she had forgotten about yesterday. "So, kiss Zuko lately?" Maybe she hasn't.

"Sorry about that Hama." I walked to a cupboard and pulled out a fire peach and started to munch on it.

"It's okay sweet pea." She said nonchalantly. "A girl your age needs a gorgeous guy to lock lips with."­­­­­­­­­­

"Hama," I said surprised.

"What darling?" She looked up from her scroll. "Did you think I was a goddess? I know what it's like to be in love with a hot young guy. Trust me I was well known around the water tribe."

"Hama," I laughed.

"You have a good time at school today sweet pea. And remember we have a lesson today." She hugged me goodbye and I was out of the inn.

I was walking into the courtyard and sat down on a bench in the middle of the school when Zuko approached me.

"Hey," he said.

"What's up with you?" I asked.

"I just broke up with Mai," he informed me.

"And,"

"And she wasn't all that surprised."

"What?" I said astounded. I looked at him.

"She said that she never really loved me in a romantic way. She told me that she was just a bit hurt but not by much. Personally I was a bit offended by this, but what ever."

"Does she know about us?" I asked him.

"Yes she does," Zuko sighed. "She said that she knew that we were going to end up together. I swear she is psychic or something."

"So she's alright with it?"

"She is indeed," Zuko sat down next to me and put his arm around my waist. "So I'm thinking that we need to have our first date sometime in the near future."

"Um, I can't do it tonight." I said. I had water bending lessons with Hama and I really needed to start learning it.

"I already have a date," I said sweetly.

"With who?" Zuko drop his arm from around my waist and looked at me suspiciously while I just smiled.

"Hama," I smiled.

"Why would you be going on a date with Hama?" he asked confusingly.

"Oh wow," I laughed. "You are such an idiot. I have water bending lessons with Hama."

"Huh," he sighed in relief. "Well what about tomorrow night?"

"That I can make," I snuggled close to Zuko. Zuko is my boyfriend. The Crowned Prince of the Fire Nation is Katara of the Water Tribe's boyfriend. It was so weird but I know that I am truly happy with Zuko.

* * *

The terrible school day was finally over. This afternoon we had art. Maybe my lie about my parents being artists wasn't such a good idea. My teacher Master Hibilo thinks that I am an art prodigy. I have gotten way over my head. I simply told him that I was not gifted with the ability to produce lavish pieces of art like my parents. That seemed to satisfy him.

I walked into the inn and went to the kitchen to get a piece of fruit. I grabbed the fruit and sat at the table and waited for Hama to find.

It was ten minutes later that she did. The fruit was nearly gone as she entered the inn's kitchen.

"Hello Katara," she greeted with a smile.

"Hey Hama," I ate the last bite of the fruit and threw it in the trash basket.

"So, are you ready for water bending lessons?"

"More than anything," I sighed.

"We would do it now but tonight is supposed to be a full moon."

I could feel my eyes light up and my skin warm. "Really?" I asked.

Hama nodded in response. "You get your homework done and then at sun down we will be outside bending. Okay?"

"Okay," I replied. I stood up from the mahogany chair, grabbed my school bag, and climbed the stairs to my room to do my homework.

When I got to my room I shut my door and sat down at my desk. I plopped my school bag on the desk and opened it up. I put my hand in it and felt something odd, unusual. I pulled the strange object out and felt my jaw hang open. Zuko must have put in my bag when I wasn't watching. It was picture of him. He looked gorgeous. His shaggy hair hung down just above his eyes.

Attached to the picture there was a note. It said 'Hope you like it. It is a little decoration for your desk'. I leaned the picture against the wall as it sat on my desk. It was indeed the most perfect decoration for my desk.

A couple of hours later there was a knock at my door.

"Who is it?" I asked completely my last bit of homework. Hama walked in.

"Katara it's time for your lesson."

"Oh," I said. "Sorry, I was really into this thing and I totally forgot to meet you."

"It's okay. Now follow me." I dropped my writing brush and walked out of my room with Hama.

We went out of the inn saying 'hello' to some of the guests along the way. I found myself in the fire lily pasture. This was the first place Hama took me to. This was the only place in the Fire Nation that I actually liked.

"So Katara," Hama said with seriousness. "I am going to show you some water bending techniques then I want you to try them."

First Hama showed me the water whip. I already knew how to do this but not very well. She lengthened the whip and started to dance it around. I tried mimicking her movement. I thought I was doing a horrible job but instead I was doing quite the opposite.

"Very good Katara," Hama praised. "You are going to learn in no time."

She was right of course. For the rest of the night I kept on showing Hama my true abilities. I was doing all of the techniques just like Hama. I felt like a true Master Water Bender. I knew I had a long way to go still but I got a good start on it.

It was nearly midnight when we had stopped.

"Vey good work Katara."

"Thanks," I said breathlessly.

"You have done an excellent job. You have exceeded my expectations. Maybe we will start blood bending next week. But remember Katara, blood bending is only for self defense."

"Yes, I understand"

"Good," she smiled. "Now let's get back and get some much needed sleep."

"Hama," I said quietly.

"Yes sweet pea?"

"What about dinner?"

"Dinner too," she said.

I gazed up at the full moon. I felt safe with a full moon. I saw Hama was starting to head back to the inn. I ran to catch up with her to get some much needed sleep... and dinner.

_A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. I feel so bad. Anyway this is not how the chapter I had originally written turned out. It was so much different. I like this chapter better. I tend to do that. Pre- write things and then write them again. The write- agains always turn out better. Hoped you liked it. Please give me a review I am dying for one._


	13. A Date With Zuko

_A/N: Thanks for the review, please keep them coming. I hope you like this chapter._

A Date with Zuko

I woke up the next morning to the hot, bright sun. I was sore. I really needed to start stretching. Water bending was very difficult last night for me. Even though I perfected everything Hama threw at me.

I walked to the bathroom brushed my teeth and washed my face. I put on my uniform and went downstairs.

"Katara," Hama called. "You have a visitor."

I walked to the lobby of the inn and there standing in the doorway was Zuko.

"What are you doing here?" I asked excitedly.

"I thought we could go to breakfast together." He was so sweet.

"Okay," I hugged him. "Let me put on my shoes and get my bag and then we can go."

"Okay," he said. I gave him a quick kiss and went back upstairs to get my shoes and bag. I quickly tied my sandals and flew downstairs. This breakfast was Zuko's and mine first date. I couldn't wait.

"Hey," Zuko greeted when I came down the stairs. "You ready?"

"Yeah," I smiled at him. "Let's go."

"See you later Madame," Zuko said to Hama, giving her a formal, respectful name.

"Okay, see you kids after school. Have fun."

We were out of the inn and were walking down the walkway.

"So what's with you being all spontaneous this morning?" I asked Zuko.

"I really needed to get out of the palace. My sister and father are having all these war meetings."

"Really? About what?" I asked.

"War," he laughed in my face.

"Shut up," I giggled. "I mean, why is the palace an unbearable place to be?"

"My father and sister are plotting to do so many terrible things. I don't know what to do about it. I over heard them talking one night about going to the North Pole and searching for the Avatar. They said that Admiral Zhao was the best to go on this mission. If he finds the Avatar there, he's going to terminate him. If he does the world will fall into the hands of the Fire Nation. I don't want that." Zuko had a look on his face that reflected his pain.

"Why don't you?" I asked this knowing what his answer might be. Zuko was too kind hearted to do anything that bad.

"I already have enough burdening me with Sozin being my great grandfather. It's too much to bear. It's going to be even worse if they do this to the world. Everyone is going to see it as a family doing. They are going to blame me." I could see Zuko's eyes starting to water with tears. I put my arms around his waist and gave him a reassuring hug. I didn't want him to go through anymore pain.

"It'll be okay. You will always have me no matter what." Zuko stopped walking. "You did you stop?" I asked.

"This is where we are eating."

I looked at the building. It was covered with fire lilies and smelled of ginger bread. I know it was outside, but the aroma was so strong and sweet.

"What is this place?"

"My mom used to bring me here when I was kid. We came here so often the owner, Cali, became my best friend. I haven't seen him in weeks. I kinda miss him. He makes the best torte in the world. The bakers at the palace have nothing on him. He is the best." I could see the light coming back into Zuko's eyes.

"Well," I started. "Let's not stand here and talk about it. I'm starving." Zuko grabbed my hand and we entered the shop.

The shop smelled of flour and sugar. It was a sweet homey scent. Well, growing up in the South Pole, the kind of scent I grew up with was dead fish, snow and ice. I liked the scent of sugar and ginger better.

The walls were decorated with tapestries of woodland creatures found in the Earth Kingdom. I thought it was odd to have Earth Kingdom relics in the Fire Nation. There was a huge counter in the middle of the shop. In front of the counter was a case full of pastries.

All over the shop were tables and chairs with fire lilies in the middle of them. The fire lilies were planted in a hole in the middle of the tables. I thought it was very classy.

"Cali, it's Zuko," he called. "Cali?"

There was a big bang that came from the back and a boy came out of the beaded curtains. He had black, curly hair. The Fire Nation eyes, and was built very well; lean and muscular. He was wearing an apron and had flour and chocolate all over his hands and face.

"Zuko!" the boy, I assumed was Cali, said. "It's been weeks. What have you been doing?"

"Oh, you know everything." Zuko was smiling.

"And who is you friend?" he asked.

"Cali, this is Katara my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" he said surprised. "I thought Mai was the only one for you."

"That was before I met Katara."

"Okay," Cali said. "So since I haven't seen you in forever, I want you to have whatever you want. My treat."

"Thanks," Zuko said. "Can I just get it from the case?"

"Yeah sure," Cali replied not caring very much. "Just don't eat everything. I have to get back to work; it was very nice to meet you Katara." He offered his hand and I took it. We both shook hands and he went into the back through the beaded curtains.

"So, what do you think?" Zuko asked as we made our way to the case of pastries.

"He is very nice, just like you."

"Well thank you milady," Zuko said seductively.

"Huh," I giggled. "Don't ever call me that again. Okay I want a fire cherry danish and a strawberry torte. Oh, and some jasmine tea."

"Okay coming right up." Zuko got my danish, torte and tea.

"What are you getting?" I asked.

"A cream filled doughnut and a peach torte. And some tea."

I giggled. "Okay,"

Zuko brought our pastries to the table and sat them down, then went to get the tea. "Thanks," I said.

"Your welcome." Zuko took a huge bite out of his doughnut. "So," he said with his mouth full. "What do you think of this first date?"

"It's okay," I said knowing that it would torture him.

"Okay? Just Okay?" he said astonished.

"I'm teasing." I laughed.

"Well fine," he said.

"No, it's the best date ever." I told him.

"I glad you think so," he replied.

"I do," I said. I put down my danish and gave him a kiss.

"Katara," he broke the kiss. "Don't let Cali see. He'll mock me for months."

"Don't worry," I laughed.

_A/N: Sorry four thousand times. I am so sorry it took me nearly three months to update. Don't hate me. Okay so Cali's name is pronounced CA like a cat and lee like lee. Okay R&R!_


	14. Tears and Heartbreak

_A/N: Thank you readers for all of your support through this amazing story. I have absolutely no freaking idea how long this is going to be. Some people map out their ideas. Me, I just go with it. I go with the flow. I'm like the ocean or whatever. Anyhow, hope you like this chapter! Oh Yeah! This takes place three months after the date chapter. So obviously Zuko and Katara's relationship has grown stronger. Okay? Okay! Now you can enjoy the chapter. _

Tears and Heartbreak

Three Months Later

Zuko and I were in class. We were learning about the history of the Fire Nation. Sometimes I think that's all we learn. I got bored so I started to pass notes to Ming. We just talked about how bored we were and how much we needed to get therapy afterwards.

I was about to pass the scroll back to Ming when Headmistress Lane Dee came into the room. She conferred with out teacher for a while. We all sat there deathly silent, trying to hear their conversation. I couldn't hear anyone breathe. It was like the silence was consuming each and every one of us. One by one. Person by person. Each of us more quiet than before.

It was a few minutes before Mistress Lane Dee told us why she had come. "Zuko," she said with no expression as usual. "I need to speak with you at once." Mistress Lane Dee motioned for Zuko to follow her. He got up and followed her out into the hall.

A few minutes passed before I mouthed to Ming, "I have to know what's going on out there." She nodded in agreement.

"Madame Mayko," I said.

"Yes Katara?" she turned around.

"I really have to go to the bathroom. It's an emergency." I tried to look pitiful.

"Very well then, but make it quick."

I stood up and opened the door. I stepped into the hall, closed the door softly and looked up and down the hall to try to find Zuko.

"Down here," a voice said. It belonged to Zuko. He was sitting by the door with his knees drawn to his chest.

"What's going on?" I asked soothingly. I slide down the wall and sat next to Zuko.

"Lu Ten… is dead." I could see the wetness and tears stain his pale skin.

"Your cousin?" I asked.

He nodded in response. "He and my Uncle Iroh were fighting in the war together. Even though my uncle is retired he still accompanied Lu Ten on his war ship. He… he," Zuko stopped. He drew in a sharp breath that indicated that tears were threatening in his eyes. I knew he was trying to fight them.

"I know how you feel. I get the pain. Zuko," I whispered softly. "This is one battle you can't win. Your emotions will. Please, just tell me what you're feeling."

Zuko drew in a breath and a single tear fell down his cheek. "Lu Ten was like my older brother. I never was around my father and sister much when I was kid. I always clung to my mother. When she left, or disappeared or whatever, I didn't have anyone to go to. That's when I started to get to know my uncle. I knew what he was like before, but I never actually got to _know_ him. I did in time. I also got to know my cousin. We would always do things together."

"I know this is hard for you. When my mother died I was lost. I found myself though." I put my arms around his slumped shoulders.

"How?" he asked looking up at me.

"Through you," I replied.

"What?" he asked astonished.

"I met you, and I fell in love with you. You were always there when I needed you. Now you need me. Let me help you." I rested my head on his shoulder. I could feel his whole body rack with sobs.

"I just…don't want to… be left alone," he sobbed.

"What makes you think I'm going anywhere? I wouldn't leave you for anything." I hugged him fast and close. I wanted Zuko to feel safe and loved. "Zuko, I love you so much. I just want you to stop suffering."

* * *

Zuko and I stayed in the hallway, not saying anything to each other. We held onto each other. Zuko quietly cried on my shoulder. I didn't mind. I wanted him to heal. I wanted him to feel better; I knew that wouldn't happen for a while.

We sat in the hallway for the rest of the day. No one bothered us. Not Madame Mayko or Mistress Lane Dee. When school ended, people looked at us. They looked at Zuko. I could read there eyes. They wanted to know what was going on. They wandered, but they didn't ask. Not me, not Zuko. Even Mai didn't ask anything. It seemed like she didn't want to know. She was the first.

"Zuko," I whispered. "Babe, get up." I shook him gently. He had fallen asleep.

"Wha," he said groggily. "Where are we?"

"We're still at the school." I grabbed one of his arms and helped him stand up. "Let's go back to the palace."

"What about Hama?" he asked.

"I will send her a messenger hawk okay." I hugged Zuko and we walked out of the school's entrance. "Don't worry about it."

"Thanks Katara," he said. I put my arm around his waist.

We walked to the Fire Nation Palace. We walked through the grand gates that I have been through many times. The red and golden gates that are only opened for certain people.

"You want to go to the gardens?" Zuko asked me.

"Yeah, sure," I replied.

We walked through the gardens hand in hand. We walked around the pond, across the grass, circling the trees. We stopped when we reached the pond again. The turtle duck family was waiting for us to feed them. Zuko took out a loaf of bread out of his uniform. Why he had it in his uniform I will never know.

I took the bread from him and ripped of a piece. I gently threw it into the pond to the turtle ducks.

"I used to come out here with my mother all the time." Zuko said. He was looking down at the water.

"I know," I replied. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

"Everything is falling apart," he whispered. "I have don't have any family members that love me anymore."

"What about your uncle?" I suggested.

"He probably forgot all about me. After my aunt died and my cousin went to fight in the war he stopped writing to me. He stopped talking to me. When Azula and I were kids, and he was off being the 'Dragon of the West', he would send us all kinds of things. That was before things changed."

"Zuko," I leaned into him. "He loves you. He is probably the one that loves you the most."

"Besides you," he said. He turned his head and looked me in the eyes.

I nodded and said, "Besides me."

"Do you really think he loves me?" he asked.

"I know he does," I rested my head on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I love you so much."

Zuko leaned his head against mine and said, "I love you too."

"Zuko," I started to say. "Everything will be fine."

"Yes, it will be," a distant voice said. I lifted my head, stood up and saw Azula standing behind us. "Katara," she said in a vile, menacing voice. "Long time no see. So, I take it you heard about cousin."

"Yes, Azula I did," Zuko said gravely.

"Well, I think he deserved it. If he was a proper royal he wouldn't have to go and fight in the war. It's all uncles fault you know. If he didn't fail at Ba Sing Se then…,"

"Shut up Azula!" Zuko shouted. "You don't have any idea what you are talking about. Uncle and Lu Ten fought in the war because they care about the Fire Nation. I am so sick of you saying crap like that. Just stop!"

"Zuzu," Azula said giving Zuko her pet name for him. "So serious you are today. I was merely joking."

"No you weren't," I said quietly with my head down. I knew saying this was a mistake.

"What was that peasant?" Azula's face fell from a sarcastic grin to a serious frown.

"You are such a bitch for saying all that crap to Zuko. If you really cared about him you would be worried. But you're not. So just shut up and go about your freaking little Princess duties." I screamed at her.

Azula stifled a tiny giggle. "I may be royalty but I am more street smart than you peasant."

I gave a sarcastic laugh. "Street smart my ass. I dare you to live in the lower ring of Ba Sing Se for one year as a peasant. You wouldn't last for two hours."

"I bet your couldn't either, Water Tribe scum," she snapped back.

I glared at Azula. "I may be from the Southern Water Tribe, and our sister tribe may not care about us. I was taught how to take care of myself. I know what to do in terrible situations. I do not need servants to take care of me. I can do that myself. I like being on my own."

Azula scoffed in my face. "Don't make me laugh."

I walked towards her so I was right up in her face. "I promise you, I won't."

We stayed in that position for a while. In that time, I bended some water from the pond and waited for the right time to do something. Zuko was standing behind me and he knew what I was going to do.

I acted quickly. I sent sharp flying icicles towards Azula. They pinned her clothes and sent her flying to the tree. She thrashed about trying to free herself.

"How am I supposed to get myself free?" she asked panicked.

"You're a smart girl, you can figure it out." I turned to Zuko.

"Thanks," he said.

"You're welcome," I replied. I gave him a quick kiss, then grabbed his hand and ran out of the palace.

_A/N: Okay, I hope you liked this chapter. It's packed full of pain and chick fighting (sort-of). Obviously this story is nothing like the show. Lu Ten didn't die when Zuko was a boy. He died when Zuko was a teenager in this story. Duh, I mean this chapter was all about Lu Tens death. If you are confused on anything just ask me and I will get back to you. Most everything is pretty self-explanatory. R&R please!_


	15. Uncle Iroh: Back in the Fire Nation

_A/N: All I have to say for this chapter is that I'm so sorry it took me so long to update. I also encourage everyone to leave a review when you are done reading this. I love getting feedback. If my teachers can do it so can you._

Uncle Iroh: Back in the Fire Nation

The night after out encounter with Azula, Zuko and I laid low. We stayed cooped up all day. We slept until the earth was golden and drowned with sun.

I clung to Zuko all night. He held me in his arms as we slept. I woke up to the noise of a servant knocking on the door. "Prince Zuko, Lady Katara," he said from outside. "I have lunch for you."

I threw the red blankets off of myself and got up from the bed. I was in my underwear so I walked over to a chair and grabbed Zuko's robe from off it.

I opened the door. "Hi Ling Yung," I greeted the servant.

"Good afternoon Lady Katara," he bowed. "Here is lunch."

"Um Ling Yung," I said.

"Yes," he replied.

"This looks more like breakfast."

"Oh yes. I thought that since you and Prince Zuko didn't eat any breakfast that you would like some for when you woke up."

"Thank you Ling Yung," I said. I grabbed the tray of food, closed the door and walked back to the bed. I sat down the tray on my lap, and took a sip of the jasmine tea that was on there.

"Zuko," I whispered in his ear. "Wake up love."

Zuko groaned a bit and rubbed sleep from his eyes. "Katara," he growled at me. "Why did you wake me up?"

"I have breakfast for you." I said gently. I lifted a piece of toast with sweet fire blossom jam to his nose. "That smells good doesn't it?"

"Not as good as you do," he said sleepily.

"Thank you," I said back. "I don't know about you but I am starving." I grabbed a piece of toast and started to scarf it down.

"Me too," he replied. Zuko grabbed a spoon and started to eat some fire flakes in milk.

"So," I said looking at him. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine I guess," he said vaguely. "I guess I'm just trying to wrap the idea around my head that I am going to become Fire Lord someday."

"Weren't you always in line for the throne?" I asked confused.

"I was, but not first in line. Even though my father is the Fire Lord, Lu Ten was always first in line. I was next after him. Now that he is dead I have to be Fire Lord, unless my father succeeds at killing me like he wishes to do." Zuko took a bite of his fire flakes.

"I'll all be okay," I told him. I went to take a drink of my jasmine tea when I spied a scroll on the breakfast tray.

"Zuko," I said. "This must be for you." I handed him the scroll as his fingers limply grasped it.

Zuko opened the scroll and immediately started to read it with great intent. His eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes close to the scroll. I hoped it was nothing bad. When Zuko was finished he rolled up the scroll and threw it on the bed.

"So?" I asked

"My uncle is coming back," he sighed.

"Is that bad?" I asked.

"My father is going to try to banish him, I can feel it."

Zuko's face had a grim look to it. I knew that something bad was going to happen; something that would change our lives forever.

* * *

After Zuko had read the scroll that afternoon, we waited three days for his uncle. We didn't go to school; we didn't talk to anyone but Hama.

We spent most of our time on the beach, at the inn or wandering around the market place. We did not want to be at the palace at all. Zuko's father was on a rage and we were afraid that he would come after us. We stayed at the inn.

"Hello kids," Hama greeted us when we walked through the door of the inn. "Where were you guys?"

"Just walking around the capital," Zuko replied.

"Did you guys get me fire juice?" she asked.

"Yes we did," I said lifting the jar of juice.

"Thanks," she grabbed the jar and set it in the kitchen.

Zuko and I were about to walk up the stairs when Hama called after us.

"I heard from some soldiers that were here a while ago, that General Iroh should be arriving sometime this afternoon."

"What should we do?" I asked Zuko.

"There is nothing we can do but wait. When he gets here I will go to the palace with him while he faces my father. He needs me," he explained.

"No," I protested. "I will not let you go to the palace and have your father hurt you even more."

"Katara," he said sternly. "If you go with me you could get hurt. I don't want that to happen to you. You are the most important thing to me. If you got hurt I…wouldn't know what to do."

"Zuko," I felt my heart racing and my cheeks getting hot. "You are more at risk than I am. I'm a master water bender. I can help you."

"That's the thing Katara, my father knows that. He will try to hurt you."

Zuko looked me in the eyes and I could see that he would try anything from keeping me to come with him. I was going to go anyway and he could not stop me.

Zuko went back to the palace to dress in his royal clothes. I sat outside of Zuko's room trying to give him some space. The palace was so quiet that afternoon that I could here the cloth of Zuko's clothes slide against his skin. I knew he was finished dressing when I heard him slip on his boots. I sat on the floor in front of Zuko's room waiting for him to come out. I stood up quickly when I heard Zuko's heavy footsteps walk to the door.

"Hey," he whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" I whispered back.

"Do you hear that?" he asked

"No," I replied not really knowing where he was going with this.

"Exactly," he said plainly. "Nobody is talking or running around the palace because they can sense that something bad is going to happen when Uncle arrives."

"Zuko," I started. "What are we doing here waiting around like this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that, if you know something bad is going to happen to your uncle why don't you just go to him now and tell him." I didn't know what Zuko's logic was behind all of this.

"He knows," he said vaguely.

"What? Who?" I asked fiercely.

"My father knows that I will try to help my uncle or betray the Fire Nation. So by doing this and being the perfect prince, I can fake out my father and he won't suspect a thing." Zuko looked at me like he was expecting something.

"No," I told him knowing what he was thinking. "I will not leave you. I'm staying at your side. You need me."

"Yes," he said. "I do. I can't risk your life though. I love you too much."

"I love you too, but," I stopped myself. "I want to help you."

Zuko sighed in defeat and a broad smile spread across my face. "You are as stubborn as you are beautiful," he said. "You can come. If things get out of hand you get out of sight and get back to Hama and the inn, okay?"

I nodded. I grabbed Zuko's hand and squeezed it. "Thank you," I said to him before I leaned in to capture his lips with mine.

* * *

Not long after, Zuko and I were rounded up by the servants to get in the palanquins. We were taken from the palace all the way down the volcano, to the beach where General Iroh would be arriving.

I was helped out of my palanquin as was Zuko. We arrived at the alter where the Fire Lord would be receiving General Iroh. Azula arrived after we did and then the Fire Lord. When the Fire Lord had come everyone bowed to him. Zuko and I got to our knees and bowed to the man who was a monster to Zuko and to the rest of the world.

We waited in silence waited for the ship to arrive. I held onto Zuko's hand; he was holding his breath. After a few minutes the ship was on the horizon. It got closer and closer to the Gates of Azulan. Finally the ship arrived and was docked at the beach.

General Iroh walked out of the ship, down the aisle and up the alter to the Fire Lord. He bowed to him and then the Fire Lord spoke.

"My brother Iroh," he started in a rough voice. "You have failed to protect the Fire Nation and you have betrayed me and failed me."

"You," Iroh said. "Have no idea what it is like to lose a child. How would you feel if Zuko or Azula were killed in battle?"

"That is simple," Zuko's father said plainly. "Zuko is a worthless son and Azula wouldn't be weak to get herself killed."

"Stop it!" Iroh yelled. "You don't understand so stop!"

"You are right. Maybe I should just kill Zuko then I will know how you feel." The Fire Lord and Azula had evil smiles spread across their lips.

Suddenly the Fire Lord and Azula sprang from their places. Zuko and I ran down the aisle and tried to get away from them.

Zuko and I were split up and we had to go in different directions. I started to run along the beach and Azula was after me. I bended the water from the ocean and tried to freeze her. She was chasing after me and I had to run fast to keep her from getting me.

"That's right Katara," she called after me. "Keep on running. Your precious boyfriend should be dead by now." She laughed and threw fire punches at me.

I thought Zuko would be in trouble and struggling with his father. Zuko had told me that if _I _was in trouble to get away from here. I wasn't in trouble, he was.

I knew where Zuko was. He was at the palace. I could feel it. I ran all the way to the palace. I ran as fast as I could. I ran through the palace gates and opened the doors. There, sprawled across the floor, was Zuko. And from what I could tell he wasn't breathing.

_A/N: Well I hope you forgive for being so late for updating. I am really sorry. I hope you like my cliffhanger. If you think it is a cliffhanger. I am so mean to Zuko. I am always making him get all beat up and stuff. Well hope you like it. Please, please, please review this chapter. _


	16. Getting Away From Everything

_A/N: Thank you so much for all of the reviews. I really appreciate it. I am really glad you guys liked the cliffhanger. You all are just dying to know what happens next. You are in luck because here is the next chapter. _

Getting Away From Everything

I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. I stood in the doorway watching Zuko. He didn't move or stir. I was in shock. I realized what might have happened to him. I finally ran over to him and dropped down on my knees.

I put my ear to his chest to try to hear a heart beat. It was silent. I could feel the hot tears well up in my eyes and fall down my skin. I sat next to Zuko's body and cried. As I was crying I realized that I had healing powers.

I had to bend the water out of my waterskin and onto Zuko's chest and stomach.

"Come on Zuko," I urged. "Zuko wake up." I started to hit Zuko's chest, like it would bring him back. "No," I whispered to myself. "NO!" I yelled inside the empty palace my voice echoing off the bare walls.

I drew my legs to my chest and started to cry in them. "Come back," I cried. "I need you. Don't leave me!" I was crying so much that my eyes were swollen and they hurt. I got up from Zuko's side and walked away from his lifeless body. I was almost out of the palace when I heard a faint voice.

"Katara," the voice whispered. I turned around to see Zuko's eyes half open and his chest rising and falling slowly.

"You're alive," I cried kissing Zuko's cheeks. "We have to get you out of here before someone sees us."

"I don't think I can move or get up," he sighed and hissed in pain. "It hurts too much."

"What hurts?" I asked.

"The cut from that day," he said breathing heavily.

"I healed that completely how did it open up?" I asked him confused.

"I don't know," he hissed. "But it did. I can't…," Zuko's voice trailed off. I looked over at him and he was passed out.

"Zuko," I cried out. "Ugh, come on." I lifted his shirt and saw the freshly opened wound. I cringed at the sight. I put my hands to Zuko's chest and the water gloves around my hands began to glow, indicating that he was healing. The cut healed up right away and went away.

The doors of the palace suddenly swung open. There, Iroh stood in the doorway.

"We need to leave," he said simply.

"Where to?" I asked.

"Ba Seing Se would be best. I know it well." Iroh bent down to Zuko and put his finger to Zuko's wrist. "He's fine," Iroh told me. "We should leave now."

"Zuko," I whispered as I bent sat next to him wanting him to wake up. "Zuko, wake up we have to leave." As if he were on queue his eyes fluttered opened. "Hey baby," I whispered stroking his hair. "We need to get you up." I helped Zuko get up and placed his arm around my shoulder to support him.

"What ha- happened to me?" he asked.

"I'll explain everything later, but right now we have to go." I started to walk and Zuko followed.

We followed Iroh through the garden; past the Fire lily patch and the cherry blossom trees. I was struggling to keep Zuko up because he kept on stumbling. Iroh came up to Zuko and lifted Zuko's arm over his shoulder. Iroh led us to the Fire Lord's council chambers where Iroh knew he wouldn't be.

"Katara," he said to me. "Take Zuko out the back behind the throne and stick to the path. I will be with you soon."

I looked at him confused. "Stick to the path?"

"Zuko will know the way if you get lost," he said to me with a hint a worry in his voice. "Go now."

I got Zuko to make a hole through the roaring wall of fire with the little strength he had, and then we were gone. We did exactly what Iroh told us. We stuck to the path that led us through a dark, musty alley. We walked through twists and turns; up stairs and down stairs.

"Zuko," I said. "What is all of this?"

"These alley ways were built for the Fire Lord's personal use. He can use for anything he wants. Mainly it's for a quick escape. The entry way is completely hidden and is secret passage way. No one knows of it except the Fire Lord." Zuko explained to me.

"How do you and your uncle know about if the only one who is supposed to know about it is the Fire Lord?" I questioned.

"One day, after my mom left, I got mad at my dad and ran away from him. I ran all the way around the palace to find a place where he wouldn't go. I found this doorway and went through it. I discovered many things about myself in here." I looked at Zuko as he told me this. I wanted to help him have a better life.

"Did you ever spy on your dad during war meetings or anything?" I asked.

"All the time," he chuckled.

"What about your uncle? How does he know about it?" I asked.

"I have no clue. He was never Fire Lord but I imagine he stumbled upon it like I did."

"So where does this place come out at?" I said.

"Out of the back gate; we should be getting there anytime now." Zuko looked around to get his bearings.

We got to a solid brick wall. Zuko stretched out his hand and started to feel around the wall.

"Here it is," he said plainly. Zuko pushed the wall in and it slide open and then there was light.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Behind the palace I think; either way we need to get to the inn so we can leave to Ba Seing Se." Zuko started to look left and right to make sure no one was coming.

"How are we going to get you down to the beach if you can barely stand?"

Zuko shrugged. "Very slowly," he smiled.

"Zuko," I chided him. "This is no time for jokes; this is serious."

I suddenly got an idea. I could feel the corners of my mouth turn up wards in a smile.

"I thought this was no time for jokes." Zuko said.

"No," I replied. "Zuko, can you sit down?"

"What?" he said confused.

"If I helped you sit down would you?"

"I guess," he replied.

"I can make an ice slide all the down to the inn. It may be risky but it will be a lot faster than walking."

"Do you have water with you?" he asked looking at me with a doubtful look on his face.

I could feel the optimist in me fall, crash, and burn. "I totally forgot my water pouch at the inn." I slapped my hand to my forehead hurting it slightly. "Ow," I rubbed my forehead.

"Don't hurt your self there slugger," Zuko said. I glared at him.

"Zuko," I started. "Is there any place where there might be and irrigation system or a river?"

"There a secret river on the other side of the palace but it could be dangerous to get there."

"Zuko," I told him. "I handled Azula; I think I can handle this."

"Okay, but what am I supposed to do?" he asked me pathetically.

"Stay here and…and hold down the fort!" I said enthusiastically.

"Hold down the fort?" he quirked his eyebrow.

"What?" I said. "What else do you want me to say?"

Zuko just stared at me with his golden eyes. "You say some pretty weird things."

"What? What other weird things have I said?" I retorted.

"What about 'something's on fire and I think it's you' what about that one?" he said.

"I did not say that," I laughed in spite of myself.

"Yes you did," he said. Zuko had a goofy grin on his face.

"Fine, when did I say that?'

"Two weeks ago, in your room we were making out," he said proudly. In my opinion he said that a bit too proudly.

"Okay fine, whatever," I sighed. "We don't have time to argue over the weirdo things I've said."

"Okay," he quietly agreed. "But what about the time…,"

"Zuko!" I yelled.

"Sorry," he replied sheepishly.

"Okay if I'm not back in a half an hour…," I stopped I didn't know what I going to say. Zuko couldn't walk very well so he had no way to get to me.

"Okay Katara, you're starting to scare me."

"I don't know what you could do to find me." I looked at Zuko hoping he had an idea.

"Okay here's the plan," he let go of my arm and turned to face me. "If you aren't back in a half an hour I will send a signal of fire up in the air and you look for it."

"Okay," I said in panic. I was afraid to leave Zuko. I didn't want Azula or the Fire Lord to hurt him. Before I knew it Zuko was wiping the tears off of my cheeks.

"Don't worry beautiful," he assured me. "I won't let anyone hurt me. I promise."

"You better," I sniffed.

"You better get going if we want any chance of escaping."

I started to walk away when I ran back and leaped into Zuko's arms. "I love you," I whispered into his ear.

"I love you too," he said back to me. I kissed him and felt safe in his arms.

"Now go," he urged me. I left him and started to run to the other side of the palace.

I soon was tired by running so I slowed down to a brisk walk. I knew I had to be close. I could hear the running of water.

I tried to follow the sound of the water rushing. I was walking fast when I came to the corner. I turned the corner and an unwelcome face greeted me.

"Well Katara," Azula's condescending voice crawled to my ears. "How nice it is to see you again. It's only been about an hour I suppose since we have seen each other last. I missed you I really did."

"Save it Azula," I snapped. "You cannot break me or Zuko so just stop."

"Oh, since you mentioned dear old ZuZu, how is he?" she smiled a smile that made my skin ache and my eyes twitch. It was an evil, conniving smile.

"Why do you care?" I spat at her. "You never really cared about him anyway. I can't believe you." I started to breathe fairly hard.

"Really?" she laughed.

"Not that you said something, I can believe. You're nothing but a back-stabbing bitch with murder on your mind."

"Thanks for the idea Katara," she said. "You just opened a lot of doors for me. Thank you."

I didn't say anything back to her. I looked all around and behind Azula to see if the secret river was there. I could here the flow of it clearly but I couldn't see it.

Azula shifted her leg, and behind her boot I could see the blue of the water.

"What are you looking at peasant?" she spat.

"Your face: the most demented face in the Fire Nation." I caught a glimpse of the water behind her. I suddenly threw the water up in the air. I held it there for a while, watching Azula's stunned face.

"Very clever peasant," she told me in her evil tone.

"It gets better," I smiled at her. I brought the water down and it hit her hard; hard enough that it knocked her to the ground.

"What do you think you are doing?" Azula gasped at me.

"Getting out of this horrid place," I retorted. I covered Azula with the water and froze it. I knew what power she was capable of, so I bended some more water out of the river and ran.

I knew it would be only a matter of time before Azula got out of her ice chamber. I ran as fast as I could, using the water I had to speed me up. I finally got to Zuko.

"What happened? Are you alright?" he inquired.

"I'm fine. I have no time to explain right now. We have to leave," I told him in urgency.

I used the water I had to make a giant ice slide down to the inn.

"Okay Zuko you have to go first. I have to destroy this thing as we go down."

I grabbed onto Zuko's arms to help him sit down. I sat down behind him.

"Okay, are you ready?" I asked. Zuko nodded in response. I pushed us off with my foot and we were going down fairly fast.

As we went, I bended the parts of the ice slide that was behind us back into water.

"We're almost at the bottom," Zuko pointed out to me. "What's the plan?"

"When I say 'Go', grab onto me."

"Okay," he said with a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

We were almost to the bottom of the remaining bits of the slide when I yelled, "GO!"

Zuko grabbed my waist as I jumped up and into the air. We landed in a patch of Fire lilies that broke our fall.

"Ow, damn," Zuko swore. "Whew, that will hurt in the morning."

I looked up to see him across the patch from me.

"Oh my god, Zuko are you okay?" I said in panic.

"Yeah," he groaned.

"Are you sure?" I lifted his shirt and found that his cut was not opened again, but he had a really big blue and black bruise over it.

"Okay," I bended water from a single fire lily and bended it over my hands to make the water gloves. I put my hands to Zuko's bruise. He winced in pain.

"Does it feel better?" I asked when the bruise disappeared.

"A bit," he replied.

"Can you walk?" I asked helping him to his feet.

"I think so," Zuko took a few steps. "Yeah, but I don't think I can go that fast."

"Okay, we have to get out of sight. Azula could show up any minute."

"Okay, the inn is right there," he said.

"Right," I said. "Let's go in there."

We walked into the inn and found Fire Nation soldiers scattered in the inn.

Hama walked up to us and said, "Everyone is looking for you kids. You shouldn't be here."

"Where do you expect us to go?" Zuko said.

"You guys are not safe here: or any where for the matter," Hama told us very seriously.

"Where's Iroh?" I asked her.

"He came here earlier and said that he is going to be waiting for you kids at the beach."

"He was here?" Zuko asked Hama.

"Yes," she replied. "He said that he needed to be down at the beach to get everything ready for the journey to the great city of Ba Seing Se."

"In that case," Zuko started to say, "We should leave, before anybody finds us."

"Okay," I said. I turned to Hama. "I'm really going to miss you." I gave her hug.

"I am going to miss you too sweet pea." Hama took my chin and lifted it up so she could look in my eyes. "Take care of yourselves."

Hama walked over to Zuko and told him, "You take care of her you hear me? She's all I have."

"I will Hama," he replied. "She's all I got too." Zuko hugged Hama.

"We need to go," I said to Zuko.

"Yeah," he agreed.

"I'll be back, Hama," I told her. "I promise,"

"I know sweet pea," Hama gave me one last hug and then Zuko and I were out the door.

"What are we going to do when we get there?" Zuko asked me.

"I have no idea but we'll have each other."

Zuko laughed. "Yes we will."

We were almost at the end of the path when suddenly there was a loud crash that came from the inn.

I ran back to inn and saw Hama on the ground lying in a pool of blood: her blood.

"Ahh!" I screamed. I screamed a piercing scream.

"What is it?" Zuko came limping/running in.

I was in such shock that I couldn't do anything but point to Hama's lifeless body.

"Ah, hell," he whispered.

"No," I cried. "She isn't… she can't be," I cried even harder. Zuko took me into his arms and I cried.

"We have to go," he said soothingly.

I nodded in response.

"Come on baby, let's go." I let Zuko take me out of the inn and down the path.

When got down to the path I had made a decision. Hama was going to leave the inn to me. I didn't want it anymore. It had been corrupted by Fire Nation and it wasn't the inn I had lived in for three months.

"Burn it," I said darkly.

"What?"

"Please, just burn it to the ground. It's too painful to look at." I could feel fresh tears burn my cheeks as they cascaded down.

"Okay," he whispered. Zuko threw a huge ball of fire at the inn and it went up into flame.

I thought about my room. My beautiful room with all the airy furniture and the skylight, I was going to miss it. It was the only actual place in the Fire Nation that belonged to me. It was the only place where I felt at home.

Zuko and I walked down to the beach and sat in the sand; watching Hama's precious inn burn down. It was the only thing that Hama left me. I didn't care. I just wanted it gone.

_A/N: Thanks so much for your patience. I highly appreciate it. This chapter is a lot longer than usual. I just didn't know where a good stopping place would be so I just kept on writing. Hope you guys like this chapter. Please R&R. _


	17. Leaving the Fire Nation

_A/N: Thanks for those who left me reviews. I hope you like this chapter. It has some humor in it. Happy reading!_

Leaving the Fire Nation

Zuko and I were sitting on the beach watching the inn burn. I didn't want to move at all.

"Hey," Zuko whispered to me. "Uncle says it's time to leave."

"Okay," I replied in a hushed voice. "Are you feeling better?"

"Much better, thank you," he said.

"Can you walk alright?"

"Yeah," he told me. Zuko got up from the sandy beach and extended his hand to me. I grabbed hold of it and he pulled me up.

"Everything is going to get better," Zuko told me. "I promise."

"I hope so," I replied.

"Let's go beautiful." Zuko pulled me close to him and I rested my head on his shoulder.

We walked further down the beach where Iroh was waiting for us.

"How are we going to get off this rock?" Zuko asked his uncle.

"We are going to take a stolen Fire Nation Navy ship. They won't suspect a thing when we pass through the Gates of Azulan." Iroh pointed to the Navy ship that was just off the shore.

"I think they will uncle," Zuko said.

"Not if we didn't have a veteran with us." Iroh had something up his sleeve, I knew he did.

"What are you talking about Uncle?" Zuko asked confused.

"I recruited someone who might be of some use to us," he said to Zuko. "A former General of the Fire Nation: General Lee Nahoa."

"Ming's dad?" Zuko asked.

"I don't know," Iroh said. "I suppose."

"Ming's dad is a general?" I asked Zuko.

"Yeah," he replied. "I remember one day, before you arrived, we had a paper due about what our parents did. I remember I didn't have to do it because everyone knew what my family did. Anyway, when it was her turn to read her paper she told us about how her dad was a general, but he retired when Ming was old enough to understand what was happening in the world."

"She never told me any of this," I said.

"Anyway," Iroh started. "We have to go right now. General Nahoa is waiting for us."

"Okay," Zuko replied. "Let's go before Azula decides to make money off of my head."

"Sounds good," I said to Zuko as I gave him a quick kiss.

* * *

Iroh led us to the ship where General Nahoa was waiting for us.

"Welcome Iroh," General Nahoa greeted. "How are you doing?"

"I'd be a lot better when we can leave this place." Iroh looked at us and we glanced at each other.

"Okay," General Nahoa said. "You all should go below the ship. Your chambers are ready and waiting."

"Okay," Iroh replied. "Let's go kids."

We all walked down the trap door, which was in the middle of the ship, and walked through the halls to our chambers.

Zuko and I shared a chamber while Iroh and General Nahoa had there own. I didn't mind sharing a room with Zuko.

Iroh pulled us aside and told us, "Whatever happens on our way out stay hidden. Once we are a safe distance away from here I will tell you when you can go up to the deck. Until then stay in your chamber and don't leave. The only time you should go up to the deck is in an emergency. If something bad happens save yourselves. Don't worry about me, get out."

"Uncle…,"

"No," he cut Zuko off. "Your life is more important than mine. You are the heir to the throne."

"Okay," Zuko said. "Nothing bad will happen; it just can't."

"You kids should lay low." Iroh gave Zuko a hug and then disappeared into his room.

"Let's go," Zuko said to me.

I gave Zuko a kiss and we went into our room.

"So what do you suggest we do while we wait?" Zuko said in his come-and-get-it voice.

"I don't know," I said quietly.

"What's the matter?" he asked knowing that something was wrong.

"I have nothing left," I said. "I don't know where Sokka, my father, or Aang are. I don't know if they have been captured, if they are still alive, or if Sokka and Aang have left the South Pole yet. I have no idea. With Hama gone, you are the only one I have."

"I'll always be here for you Katara, I promise." Zuko came behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist and started to kiss my neck.

"I love you too," I laughed.

"Glad to hear it," he laughed. "No, I love you so much Katara."

I giggled. "When do you think we will pass the Gates of Azulan?"

"I have no idea," Zuko said. "Let's not worry about that."

"Okay," I laughed and then I kissed Zuko. For the rest of the time we didn't worry about anything else but us.

* * *

I woke up to a crash. I jolted up as the same time as Zuko did and his chin hit my head.

"Damn," he swore under his breath.

"Sorry," I apologized.

"It's not your fault," he replied. "What the hell is going on?"

"I have no clue," I said. "Whatever it is we need to go and find out."

Zuko nodded. I got out of the bed and put my ear up to the cold metal door to try to hear what was happening.

"Don't hurt yourself slugger," Zuko said to me. I glared at him.

"I think we're being attacked," I told Zuko.

"Really?" he said in a sarcastic tone. "Is that why there are people running around and crashes going on?"

"Zuko," I said as I hit his chest. "Shut up. We need to do something."

"Really," he said again.

"Just shut up." I told him.

"Oh, and the Ice Queen Award goes to…," he retorted.

"If you weren't so hot and if I didn't love you so much, you be off the boat before you could say Platypus Bear."

"Gosh Katara," he said. "You are on edge."

"I know," I smiled sweetly at him.

"Okay fine," he sighed. "Putting humor aside, this is the plan: we are going to go up on the deck and see what's happening. If it's bad then we have to leave just like Uncle told us."

"We can't just leave him?" I argued.

"Katara," he said looking intently at me. "Our lives are more important than his. We have to get out of here if it's bad."

I nodded. "Fine, let's just go up on deck and see what's going on."

Zuko and I left the room and quietly went through the halls. We tried as hard as we could to keep our breathing quiet.

We carefully climbed up the ladder and opened the door to the deck. We jumped out only to find all of the crew to be staring at us. There was music that was going on a by the looks of it the crew members were dancing.

"What's going on here?" Zuko asked General Nahoa.

"We were just having a little fun Prince Zuko," General Nahoa replied with a smile.

I could see Zuko's eyes pan the entire ship deck.

"Uncle?" he said in outrage.

"Zuko," his uncle replied.

"Whatever happened to lie low?" Zuko asked.

"We are at least sixty miles away from the Fire Nation so I came up here to join the party."

"What?" Zuko's eyes blazed with frustration. "We thought we were under attack, but it was just you guys dancing and having a party?"

"That's right nephew," Iroh told him. "I went down to see if you children wanted to join us, but you were sleeping and looked so comfy."

Zuko slapped his hand over his face. "Ugh," he sighed.

I giggled and placed my arm over his shoulder. "It's okay Zuko," I told him. "Let's just join the party and relax."

Zuko took a deep breathe and relaxed his muscles. We sat down on a couple of pillows and drank some tea that Iroh had made.

"At least this is better than actually being under attack," I said trying to cheer Zuko up.

"Yeah," he chuckled.

"Well the best thing about this whole misunderstanding was that I got to hear you say the word 'slugger'," I laughed.

"Yeah," he said embarrassed. "Whatever."

"You told me I was always the one who said weird things, but I think you saying the word 'slugger' just cancelled out all the things I've said." I looked at him and his cheeks started to turn bright red.

"Thank you very much for reminding me," he said to me. "You really know the way to a guy's heart."

"I know," I smiled.

Zuko just sighed and pulled me to him.

_A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. It has a bit of comic relief in it. Please read and review. _


	18. The Journey to the Ba Seing Se Refugee

_A/N: Hello good readers! Thanks for reviewing, I really like it when people leave me reviews. They really help me along with the story line. I really hope you like this chapter. It is more comic relief and a transition chapter more than ever. Enjoy this chapter and as always… Read and Review. _

The Journey to the Ba Seing Se Refugee Ferry 

_Two Weeks Later_

We had been on the sea for two weeks. We hadn't made any stops. Zuko had started to get antsy. He was annoyed with everyone and his hair.

"It's getting too long," he complained.

"Well, you won't let me cut it," I told him.

"You might chop my head off," he told me.

"Oh wow," I laughed. "You are such a Drama Prince."

"I am not," he argued.

"I'm not going to chop off your head," I said confidently. Zuko was silent.

"You promise?" he said finally.

"Yes babe," I smiled. "I promise."

"Okay," he said. "Go for it."

I bended some water out of my water pouch and carefully swiped it across Zuko's shaggy bangs. His eyes were glued shut while I trimmed his hair.

"Not too short," he said through his clenched teeth.

"Relax dude," I laughed. "Your hair, so far, is looking good. I still have to back and sides to do."

Zuko nodded. "Ugh," he cringed.

"Zuko," I scolded. "Chill out. I won't chop off your head. It is way too sexy to get rid of."

Zuko smiled. "You think my head is sexy?" he said with his eyes still shut tightly.

"Hello, duh," I replied. "I think your whole body is sexy."

"Well thanks love," he said to me.

"What, you don't think I'm sexy?" I faked a couple of sniffs.

"Of course I think you're sexy," he said. "You are the most beautiful person I have ever met."

I felt my stomach drop when he said this to me. "Well if I am that beautiful than why don't you open those fiery eyes of yours?"

"No," he said plainly.

"Why?" I pried.

"I like my head the way it is," Zuko said, his voice unsteady

"Oh my," I mumbled in annoyance.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh nothing," I told him.

"Just sit back and enjoy the pain of your head being chopped off," I joked.

"Katara!" Zuko shot up from the chair and his eyes shot wide open.

"I'm kidding," I laughed at him.

"Ugh," he grunted. "Don't do that."

"I'm sorry," I giggled.

"Stop," he snapped.

"Stop what?"

"Stop laughing," he said calmly. "It makes me nervous."

"Okay," I giggled.

"Stop," he replied. I couldn't stop giggling at all. "Stop!"

"Okay," I smiled.

"I promise," I giggled once more.

Zuko glared at me.

"I'm done, I promise," I said to him with a semi- straight face. "Now sit down and shut up."

Zuko looked at me and didn't take his eyes off of mine until he sat down. He closed his eyes once more and that was my queue to start.

"Okay let's finish this mother," I said enthusiastically.

Zuko looked at me. "That is by far the weirdest thing you have ever said."

"Well, that's why you love me," I said to him.

"Yes it is," he replied.

I carefully wielded the water through Zuko's jet black, soft hair.

"Okay," I sighed in exhaustion. "I am almost done."

I made a few quick clips with the water and I was done.

"I am done," I announced. "Open those eyes of yours."

Zuko opened his eyes slowly and then said, "I need a mirror."

"Oh, right." I froze the water into a glass like slab of ice so Zuko could see his new hair cut.

He studied his hair for a moment and then said, "I love it."

I smiled.

"You did an excellent job babe," Zuko told me.

"Well thank you," I replied.

Zuko got up from the chair, grabbed my hand, and pulled me towards him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him.

"I love you," I whispered.

"I love you too," Zuko replied.

"Zuko," I said.

"Shhh," Zuko pressed a finger to my lips. "Just be quiet." Zuko wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in for a kiss.

His lips didn't leave mine and I melted. We finally broke apart.

"What was that for?" I asked breathless.

"For cutting my hair," he replied.

I looked at him in disbelief.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes really," Zuko replied.

"Okay," I smiled.

Zuko leaned in for another kiss when Iroh burst into our room.

"Zuko I…," he looked at us. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Uh no," Zuko said quickly.

"Good," Iroh said. "We are almost to the refugee ferry station to Be Seing Se."

Zuko nodded. "What do we need to do to get ready?"

"Both of you change into these clothes and we will be mistaken for Earth Kingdom citizens." Iroh handed us Earth Kingdom clothes.

"We will dock the ship and walk the rest of the way there. General Nahoa will return to Fire Nation and this whole expedition to the ferry will be forgotten."

"Uncle," Zuko started. "What will we do when we get into the city?"

"I have everything under control," Iroh told us. "I want you to take care of Katara."

"I will," Zuko said.

"Hurry up and get dressed, you two, we will be at the dock soon." Iroh left and we were alone.

"Well," I started. "We better get dressed."

I unraveled my Earth Kingdom outfit. It consisted of a deep green long sleeved shirt that was off the shoulder: an off white corset that went over the shirt, a pair of brown pants and some sandals.

As I undressed I could feel Zuko's eyes stare at me.

"What are you looking at?" I asked knowing very well what he was staring at.

"Just you, beautiful," he said dreamily.

I carefully stepped into the pants and pulled them over my underwear.

Zuko sighed and fell on the bed.

"Are you alright over there babe?" I asked.

"Yes," he said pathetically.

I laughed. I pulled on my shirt and slipped the corset over it.

"Zuko," I said.

"Mmm?" he mumbled.

"Will you tie this thing up for me?"

Zuko's head shot up and he rushed right over to me.

"So how do I do this?" he asked.

"Just pull the strings, and make it tight," I told him.

Zuko pulled the strings a bit too hard.

"But not too hard," I gasped.

"Oh sorry," Zuko loosened the strings. "Better?"

"Much," I took a couple of deep breathes. "Okay, now your turn."

"What?"

"It's your turn to get dressed and_ my_ turn to stare at you," I looked seductively at Zuko.

"Okay," he sighed. "Fine."

I leaped onto the bed and took Zuko's place where he had been lying.

Zuko had shed his shirt and I couldn't stop staring at him. He looked gorgeous with his six- pack and muscular arms.

"Whew," I let out as I fanned myself. "Maybe I should put an icicle on my forehead because, man, is it hot in here."

"I love it when you treat me like a piece meat," Zuko said sarcastically.

I grabbed a pillow and threw myself at the end of the bed. "I bet you do," I smiled.

Zuko dampened my mood by putting his light brown Earth Kingdom shirt on.

He quickly took off his pants and replaced them with pants that matched his shirt.

Zuko was officially fully clothed and I was disappointed that he was no longer half- naked.

"Missing something?" I said as I held up his dark brown tunic. Zuko snatched it out of my hands and slipped it on over his clothes.

"You look hot," I told him with a bit of enthusiasm.

"Well thank you baby," he replied.

"Hmmm," I hummed as Zuko bent down to kiss me. "So are we there yet?"

"Uh," he started. "Let's go up to the deck and find out."

"Are we allowed?" I asked.

"I think so," Zuko said in an unsure tone.

"Maybe we shouldn't," I told him. "What if we are surrounded by Fire Nation creepers and they start to feel me up?"

"Katara," he said. "Let's just go up and see."

"Okay," I said quickly and got up from the bed.

Zuko and I poked our heads out of the cold, metal door. We carefully walked through the halls of the ship and turned a few corners. We reached the stairs that led up to the deck.

Zuko walked up first, I was right behind him. Zuko opened the door and we were out in the daylight. The sun burned my eyes so I covered them with my arms.

"Are we there?" I heard Zuko's voice say.

"Yes," said another voice I recognized as Iroh's.

I got used to the light little by little and uncovered my eyes. I rushed over to Zuko and Iroh.

"How much longer do we have until we arrive at the dock?" I asked.

"Look," Zuko said as he pointed left. "There it is."

"We're coming up on the dock!" General Nahoa yelled. "You guys need to be ready to go when we dock so no one from the Earth Kingdom spies this ship!"

Iroh nodded in response.

As the ship came into the dock Zuko, Iroh, and I lined up at the side of the boat, so as soon as the gangplank was down, we could make a run for it.

The ship was at the dock and some of the crew members lowered the gangplank. Zuko grabbed my hand and ran down the gangplank pulling me along and Iroh behind us.

I could hear Zuko's shoes pound on the wooden dock. I could hear Iroh's heavy breathing behind me. I tried to keep up with Zuko but he was sprinting towards the clump of trees that was in front of the beach.

I ran as fast as I could to catch up to Zuko when I turned around and saw Iroh huffing and puffing. I ran back to Iroh to make sure he was fine.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he replied out of breath. "You get to the trees with Zuko, I will catch up."

I hesitated for a moment, and ran towards the trees where Zuko was waiting.

When I got to the trees I almost bumped into Zuko head had, I had so much momentum.

"Easy there tiger," he said as he grabbed my arms to stop me. "Where is Uncle?"

"He is back there," I replied. "He told me to get to you and he said that he would catch up."

"Oh," he simply said.

Zuko stretched his neck out looking at something. I turned around to find him looking at his uncle jogging to get to us.

Zuko walked to the edge of the end of the trees and outstretched his hand to his uncle.

"Come on Uncle," Zuko urged. Iroh grabbed Zuko's hand and he was in the trees.

"Okay," Iroh said. "I need to give Nahoa the signal for him to go."

Iroh waved his hand and whistled. The engine of the ship started up and it sailed away.

"Well," Zuko started. "There is no going back now. We are now officially in Earth Kingdom territory."

"Yeah," I replied. "What now?"

"We blend in," Iroh said. "I never thought I would ever be going back to the Earth Kingdom."

"I guess we should start walking," I said.

"Yes," Iroh replied. "We should."

_A/N: Hope you liked this chapter. The next one will have a little more depth to it. Please, dear readers, review. _


	19. The Journey to Ba Seing Se

_A/N: I feel so bad for not updating! I am so sorry to all of you. I kind of got lazy and to be truthfully honest I forgot. Now I know what all of you are thinking, "She forgot about us." I am so so so sorry! I'm updating now so that should count for something. Okay here is chapter nineteen. Forgive me and read!_

The Journey to Ba Seing Se

We walked and walked for what seemed like hours. It couldn't have been more than two hours but it seemed longer. It was nightfall by the time we had reached the gate to the ferry port.

"They keep this place well hidden don't they?" Zuko stated as we walked through the concealed gate.

The excitement and bustle was enough to knock anyone over. There were families of all shapes and sizes waiting to get to the great Earth Kingdom capital. Babies were crying while mothers tried to quiet them. Children were running around laughing happily not knowing what was going to happen. Young couples looked tired and defeated knowing that life in Ba Seing Se wouldn't be the same as their previous ones. There was a sadness hanging over the heads of everyone. Even the ones who seemed excited to start a new life. The sadness was everywhere.

"Can you imagine what would happen if the Fire Nation found out about it?" I told them as Zuko gave me a look. "I mean your father and sister; the psychopaths of the family."

Zuko smiled.

"Where do you suppose we get our tickets at?" I asked.

"Uh Katara," Zuko tapped me on the shoulder. "Where the sign says tickets."

I laughed. I was both a bit amused and a little embarrassed. "Don't we have to have passports to get tickets?" I asked Iroh.

"Already taken care of Miss Katara," he replied holding up three pieces of paper. "General Nahoa got them for us. He has done so much for us."

"We should get into line." Zuko took my hand and walked to the back of the never-ending line.

"I'm nervous," I whispered.

Zuko pulled me into a hug and whispered, "Nothing will happen, you have me and Uncle. Everything will be fine. No one will hurt you."

"I'm not worried about getting hurt. I'm worried about living there and adjusting to a whole new culture again. I'm not ready for it." I started to cry. I missed Sokka, Gran- Gran, and my dad. I wanted to go home. But I also wanted to stay with Zuko and see how life turned out with him.

I knew there was no turning back now. We were next in line to get our tickets to a new life in a new world I knew nothing about.

"NEXT!" the old, crabby looking women with a huge mole on her nose, bellowed at us. "Passports!" she spat.

Iroh gave the passports to the unattractive women and she swiped them away. She examined them closely with her mole and nose in them.

"Mr. Lee, Mr. Mushi, and Ms. Sapphire is it?" she asked and leaned over the counter to get a good look at us.

We nodded.

"How are you three in relation to each other?"

I looked at Zuko who looked at Iroh.

"These kids here are my niece and nephew. I took guardianship of them when they were young."

The women looked at us intently and finally stamped three tickets to get into Ba Seing Se.

Iroh grabbed our tickets and passports from the counter as the women bellowed for the next family to present their passports.

"That was almost too easy," Zuko said.

"It was anything but easy," Iroh stated.

"Why is that?" I asked.

"Did you watch her eyes? For a while she knew we weren't family. It was until you looked at Zuko that she believed we were in the same family. The eyes say everything." Iroh took the lead that Zuko had once held and lead us to the dock that was printed on the tickets.

"This is the ferry," Iroh said when we reached the dock. "Ferry number four."

"This is it," Zuko said. "I'm finally free of the Fire Nation and my father."

"Are you ready?" I asked him.

"More than ever," he smiled and took my hand. "Let's go."

* * *

We sat on the deck of the ship as it sailed to Ba Seing Se. Zuko held me close, sensing that other men had their vile eyes on me. He wanted the men to know that I was taken. Zuko wanted to protect me. He just wanted me to be safe.

"Where does a person get food around here?" Iroh asked out of blue.

"Uncle," Zuko started. "There is food in the dining hall below deck."

"How do know that?" Iroh asked.

"They told us that when we boarded the ferry."

Iroh looked dumbfounded as his mouth started to water with hunger. "Well, there is no time like the present. Let's go and eat."

Iroh bolted down below deck in search of food.

"Has he always been like that?" I asked Zuko as he helped me to my feet.

"Hungry?" he said.

I nodded in response.

"Yeah. When Lu Ten and I were young, Uncle would always be cooking, eating, or saying that he was hungry. He's also a big tea fan. Everywhere he goes he brings some tea leaves with him. Even when he was on the war front he had to have his tea. He may not be my father but he is closest thing to one." Zuko looked at me with his eyes filled with happiness.

We found the dining hall along with Iroh. He already got his food and was piling it into his mouth.

"Let's see what's here." I told Zuko.

We got into the line and saw that all of the food had spoiled and was rotten. I cringed at the look of it.

A man in an apron gave Zuko and I a bowl full of something that smelled horrible.

"What is this?" Zuko asked the man.

"Soup, what else?" the man said with a sour face.

Zuko and I left the line, afraid to see what other kind of road kill they might serve us.

"This is soup?" I asked. "It looks more like…,"

"OKAY!" Zuko interrupted. "I know where you are going with that. This maybe the only thing we get to eat until we reach the city. I don't want anything to ruin my appetite."

"Sorry," I laughed.

We walked over to where Iroh was sitting.

"Uncle," Zuko said. "We are going on the deck; do you want to join us?"

"No," Iroh said in a muffled voice. His face was full of food.

"It seems like you like the food." Zuko stated.

"Yelch!" Iroh exclaimed. "Are you kidding? This food is rotten and disgusting."

"Do you at least like the tea?" I asked him.

"The tea is even worse. It tastes like hot seaweed!"

Zuko and I just stood there, not understanding why Iroh kept on eating and drinking his tea if he didn't like it.

"Well," Zuko said breaking the silence. "We will be up on deck."

Zuko and I went to the deck and proceeded to eat our gooey soup.

"Ugh," Zuko groaned. "This is worse than I imagined."

"I know," I agreed.

Zuko threw his bowl out into the ocean. "I don't think I can live like this all the time."

"When we get to Ba Seing Se everything will be better." I explained. "The living conditions will be worse than the Fire Nation, but our lives will be better. We won't have to live in fear all the time. We'll be free."

"Free from what?" Zuko retorted. "We will never be free of the Fire Nation as long as _he_ is Fire Lord."

"I hear that," a strange, foreign voice said.

I turned to see a boy that looked no older than Zuko, standing behind us. He wore makeshift armor with, what looked like, metal lids as shoulder pads. He had a piece of hay hanging out from his mouth.

"I'm Jet." The boy called Jet said. "These are my Freedom Fighters: Smellerbee and Longshot."

"Hey," the shorter one, I assumed was Smellerbee, said. Longshot just nodded.

"How can you be Freedom Fighters if there is no freedom?" I asked. I could feel Jet's stare on me. I looked over at Zuko and saw that his fists were clenched.

"We fight the Fire Nation. They left me and my gang without anything. That's why we are going to Ba Seing Se. We're going there for a new life."

"As are we," Zuko replied quietly. "My name is Lee. My uncle and I never thought we would be going there to change our lives."

"There are some things in my past that I'm not proud of either. I want to start over." Jet leaned on the side of the ship. "So where is this uncle of yours? I assume that she isn't your uncle?" Jet nodded to me.

"This is Ka… Sapphire." Zuko stumbled over my fake name while trying to cover his mistake. "She's my girlfriend. As for my uncle, he's down in the dining hall." I know Zuko didn't forget how we were supposed to be siblings. He wanted Jet to know that I wasn't fair game.

Iroh came walking up to us and Zuko introduced him to Jet. "This is my uncle Mushi."

"Nice to meet you sir," Jet bowed respectively to Iroh. "I was just going to ask Lee if he wanted to help us… liberate some food."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I hear the Captain is eating like a king tonight," Jet explained.

"What kind of king?" Iroh asked.

"The fat, happy kind,"

Iroh's mouth started to water.

"I'm in," Zuko said without a thought.

"What about you Sapphire?" Jet asked me.

"No," I said plainly. "I'll stay here with Uncle Mushi." I glared at Jet.

"Okay then Lee, we'll meet back here at sundown." Jet walked away from us with his posse trailing him.

"Ugh," I groaned. "He's a creeper."

"You said it," Zuko stared at Jet as he walked across the deck. "I don't think he realizes how much trouble his so called 'liberating' can cause once he gets to Ba Seing Se."

"Then why did you agree to help him?" I asked in disbelief.

"I want to give you and Uncle a good meal." Zuko wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"Thank you," I smiled.

* * *

It was nightfall and Zuko had met up with Jet. I was sitting on the deck with Iroh. I did not want any part in whatever Jet had planned to do.

"He'll be alright," Iroh patted my hand.

"Did he take his duelswords with him?" I asked.

"Yes," Iroh said as he sipped the tea he had made.

I sighed and leaned my head on my hand.

"Katara," Iroh said quietly. "What is troubling you?"

"I just miss my family." I cried. "I want them to be here with me. It's been almost five months since I was captured. I'm just home sick I guess. I'm sorry for crying like this." I wiped my face with my sleeve.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Iroh handed me a towel. "You have every right to miss your family. I promise you Katara that we will get you back to your family."

"Thanks," I leaned into Iroh to let him know that I needed a hug. Iroh hugged me in return.

"For right now Katara, Zuko and I will be your family."

I felt more tears welling in my eyes. The weeks we had sailed together to the ferry had made us family. I knew that no matter what happened in Ba Seing Se, Zuko and Iroh would always be part of my family.

"Sapphire," it was the voice of Jet. "Are you okay?"

He was looming over me along with his two cronies looking at my tear streaked face.

"Is this about Lee helping us?" he asked.

"No," I said firmly. "It has nothing to do with you."

"Is that food for us?" Iroh asked Jet looking intently at the bowls of food.

"Sure is," Jet set down the bowls and gave one to each of us.

"Where is Lee?" I asked the name feeling forced on my tongue.

"He is over there giving food to those children," Smellerbee pointed out.

I watched Zuko give food to the eager children. He was surrounded by children trying to snatch the bowls out of his hands. I could see him push the kids who had already gotten their food out of the way. When Zuko had run out of food and children to give the food to, he made his way back to us.

"Thanks for your help Lee," Jet said to Zuko.

"No problem." Zuko sat down next to me and gave me a hug. "We're almost there…Sapphire."

I leaned my head against Zuko's chest hearing his steady heartbeat and said, "I'm ready to start a life with you."

"I'm glad to hear you say that." Zuko smiled and gave me a kiss. I could feel Jet look at us with jealousy.

"So," Iroh started breaking the silence. "Smellerbee is quite an unusual name for a young man."

"Maybe because I'm not a man," Smellerbee said angrily. "I'm a girl!"

"Oh, I see now. It's a lovely name for a girl." Iroh called after her as she left our circle.

"Uncle," Zuko said. "Do you ever think before you say things?"

"At that moment, no," Iroh replied.

We all laughed.

"Well," Zuko got up. "I guess we'll be there soon."

"We should get our things ready." Zuko helped me up from my seat.

"Are you coming Uncle?" Zuko asked.

"No," he replied. "I'll stay here."

* * *

Zuko and I both knew we had nothing to pack up. We just wanted to away from Jet.

"So," I said. "How was your little expedition?"

"Jet isn't a bad leader," Zuko said. "He just doesn't really think about the effects his actions could have on other people."

"Doesn't that sound like someone we know?"

"Who?" he asked.

"You," I said softly. "Before you broke up with Mai you didn't care about the lives of other people. You insulted and hurt me numerous times."

"I know," he said sheepishly. "But I changed."

"Yes you did," I laughed.

I gave Zuko a kiss. When I tried to break it, Zuko just held me closer. The heat of the kiss started to increase. I loved feeling the softness of his lips on me. I didn't want to stop.

The sound of a bell being rung broke us apart.

"What's that?" I asked.

"We must be to the city."

A voice came over the whole ship giving an announcement. _"We have reached the city of Ba Seing Se. Please gather you belongings and meet with your family. Please exit the ship and be ready to show your passports at the gate." _

"We should go," I told Zuko. "We don't want to let your uncle lose in the city."

Zuko smiled with amusement. "Spirits forbid that that happens."

_A/N: I updated! YAY! I'm so sorry once again. I didn't mean to take this long. I hope you liked the chapter. The next one should be up in the next 2-3 weeks hopefully. Thanks and sorry again. R&R! _


	20. Arriving in Ba Seing Se

_A/N: Hello! I'm updating so that's good news. Here is the next installment in this story. Enjoy and remember to review. All we need is fifteen more reviews and we are at a hundred reviews. Keep them coming please!_

Arriving in Ba Seing Se

Zuko, Iroh, and I got off the ship as fast as we could. They knew I couldn't be around Jet any longer.

As I walked down the gangplank I started to think about what life would be with Zuko and Iroh. I was scared. In some way I wanted my mother or father, or even Sokka to comfort me and tell me everything would be alright. I needed someone to hug.

As if he knew what I was thinking Zuko gave me a warm, loving hug and said, "Everything will be fine. Don't worry about it."

"Thanks," I said. "I'm just a bit nervous about living here, but I know it will be fine. You're with me after all."

"Yeah," he replied. "Let's go," Zuko grabbed my hand and we were off to start a new life where no one knew us.

We were called next to present our passports. Iroh handed our passports to a very large women with two heavy earrings drooping from her ear lobes.

She examined the passports closely like the lady who issued us our tickets. She looked down on us and said, "So Mr. Lee, Ms. Sapphire, and a Mr. Mush-shy we have here." When she said Iroh's cover name she shot him a flirty look.

"Actually," he said smoothly. "It's pronounced Mu-shee."

"Are you telling' me how to do my job?" she asked, her mood turning sour.

"No," Iroh said quickly. "Might I say what a beautiful flower you are?" Iroh smiled.

"You're pretty easy on the eyes yourself tiger," the women clawed at Iroh. "Welcome to Ba Seing Se."

Zuko was utterly embarrassed. He slapped his hand to his forehead and I just laughed.

"Zuko," I giggled. "Don't you enjoy watching your uncle flirt with other women?" I asked this in a jokingly manner.

"It's like watching a dad flirt with his new girlfriend," he said grumpily.

"You're so easily embarrassed," I laughed and Zuko blushed.

We walked through a tunnel and a huge station was revealed. Hundreds of refugees were waiting for the train to take them into the city so they could finally have a safe life, away from the Fire Nation.

Iroh and I sat down on a rounded, stone bench and Zuko remained standing.

"It feels so good to sit," I said, rubbing my feet. "That line was way too long."

"I could've carried you," he replied with a playful smile on his face.

"Yeah right,"

"No really, I would have too,"

I took Zuko's hand in mine. "I know but that would've really embarrassed me."

"Oh," Zuko chuckled. "Now who's the one embarrassed?"

"Hey, I only said I would have been embarrassed."

"Will you two stop flirting," Iroh said annoyed. "We have a major problem here."

"What is it Uncle?"

"I need some tea to drink while we wait," he said pitifully.

Zuko slapped his forehead. "Uncle, you don't need tea."

If on queue, a man with a cart yelled, "Tea here! The most delicious tea in Ba Seing Se!"

Iroh shot his hand up and yelled at the man, "Jasmine please!"

When the man brought Iroh the tea he took a sip. He immediately spit it back out. "Sapphire," he said to me. "This is more like coldest tea in Ba Seing Se."

I giggled at him. "Don't worry about it Mushi. I bet when we get into the city the tea will be much better since you are there."

Iroh smiled. "Thank you young one."

"Lee, can I talk to you," it was Jet. He wanted to talk to Zuko.

Zuko looked at me then at Jet and nodded. They walked away from us to the side.

I turned to them and watched them intently, paying no mind to Iroh. Zuko gave me a few looks while he was talking to Jet.

I heard Zuko say, "…want me in your gang." He walked back to us and had an angry look on his face.

Zuko went to his uncle and slapped the tea cup out of his hands. "What are you doing fire bending your tea?" he whispered fiercely.

When I knew what had happened, I watched Jet and saw a look of alarm on his face. I turned to Zuko.

"I know you're not supposed to cry over spilled tea, but it's just so sad," Iroh wept.

"Lee," I said. "He knows."

"What?"

"Jet, he knows you guys are F.N."

"What is F.N.?" he said confused.

"Fire Nation!" I whispered angrily at him.

Zuko quickly told his uncle about what I saw. "We must not bend then. We will have to lay low," Iroh instructed us.

"You shouldn't be giving advice Uncle!" Zuko yelled at Iroh. "For a wise old man, that was a pretty stupid move."

"Calm down nephew," Iroh smiled.

"Why are you smiling?"

"Lee," I said a bit too loud. "It'll be okay. Don't get too hotheaded okay? We don't need any drama in Ba Seing Se."

Zuko sighed. "You're right."

I grabbed Zuko's hand and held it tight. "Yeah, I'm always right." Zuko just looked at me. "Well, most of the time." I laughed. Zuko bent down and kissed me. I enjoyed the warm and soft feel of his lips on mine. His kiss always made me feel better.

Our kiss was interrupted when the big train arrived to take the refugees into the city. The train was made of stone with a green roof on top of it. The insignia of the Earth Kingdom was stamped all around the train. At the back of the train was a pair of Earth benders. They were the ones that powered the train that went all around the city.

We got on the train and sat down on the stone benches next to a couple with a baby. The baby had jet black hair and was sleeping peacefully, not knowing what life had in store for it.

Iroh leaned toward the baby and rubbed the blanket it was wrapped in with a finger. "What a handsome baby," he said to the mother that was holding it.

"Thank you," she said kindly.

The train gave a jolt when it started to move. I was anxious to get into the city now. I left my doubts behind on the ferry. I knew that only good and unexpected things could happen in the city. I wanted to live in Ba Seing Se without fear. I wanted to live my life the way I wanted to; without anyone telling me what I had to do to help them. I was free.

* * *

We arrived at the train station at, what they called, the Lower Ring. We walked around for a while just to get the lay of the land. Zuko and I were marveling at everything around us. Even thought the Lower Ring was run down and filthy, we still loved it.

We walked past houses that had the same green roof and wood walls. There were kids climbing out of the windows with their frantic mothers trying to keep them inside. Families of all shapes were out and about in the marketplace buying this and that. Groups of boys played earth bending games with balls. Girls walked with their mothers holding their precious homemade dolls. Grandparents were dragged along by their eager grandchildren trying to get to this place and that place.

Zuko and I looked on at the passing people. We didn't say anything to each other; we were too busy looking.

I was so busy looking around that I barely heard Iroh say, "I am going to go find us some jobs. You two go around and find things for our new apartment."

"Uncle, we don't have an apartment."

Iroh stopped walking. "Quite right you are Nephew."

"We will go look for an apartment," I told everyone. "I saw a few posters for open apartments around town. It can't be hard to find one."

"Very well Kat…Sapphire," Iroh almost slipped my name. "We will meet back here by nightfall."

Iroh turned around and walked away, leaving Zuko and I to find a place to live.

"So," I said. "Where do we start?"

"There's an apartment building around the corner from here. We can't be picky though. We don't know how much money we will make so we have to be cheap."

"I grew up on an iceberg. I lived in a house made of snow. Don't get me wrong, I loved living there. It was just really cold." Zuko laughed.

"I can imagine. I think Uncle and I will have the problems adjusting, not you."

"Thanks Zuko," I giggled. "Let's go house finding."

I took Zuko's arm and we went to find our new home.

We arrived at a grungy looking apartment building. The windows were small and the walls were dirty. As Zuko told me, we couldn't be picky.

We met the landlord of the building. He was a sleazy looking man with greasy black hair and a gold earring in his left earlobe. He kept on hitting on me. By the look Zuko had on his face, I thought it was only a matter of time before he would fire blast the landlord out of Ba Seing Se.

"So, do you want to see the apartment or what?" the landlord asked impatiently. "I think you will like it very much." He nodded to me. His toothless smile made my skin crawl.

He led us up to the small apartment. He opened the stained, wooden door with a small key. He held the door open for us and Zuko entered first. The landlord grabbed me by the arm as I went through the door and said, "If you ever get lonely, I'm around."

Zuko appeared suddenly by my side. "Touch my girl one more time and you won't be living here anymore. By that, I mean on this world."

I looked at Zuko and he had 'murder' written all over his face.

"Now Lee," I said sweetly. "We came here to get a house and that's what we are going to do. As for you," I looked sharply at the landlord. "Do you want our money or not?"

He was silent.

"I thought so."

I walked into the main room of the apartment. It was small but not too small. It was quaint. There was a sofa in the far corner. Across from that was a small burner with straw underneath. There were two doors that had a bedroom and a washroom beyond them. In the bedroom there were four straw mats with thin cloth blankets. In the washroom was a basin for water and a wooden toilet.

"So, what do you think?" I asked Zuko.

"How much a month will we have to pay?" Zuko asked the landlord.

"Two gold pieces," he replied.

"We'll take it," Zuko said quickly.

"Great." He handed Zuko the key. "Welcome to Ba Seing Se."

The sleazy, greasy landlord gave us on last look and left.

"That's done," Zuko sighed in relief.

"Yeah," I replied. "What now?"

"We should walk around the marketplace. We need food and things like that."

"Zuko, we don't have any money," I pointed out.

"Is that what you think?" He held up a small, brown change purse.

"Where did you get that from?"

"Let's just say the landlord felt bad for upsetting you."

"Zuko," I laughed. "I thought you were against stealing."

"I never said that."

"How much is in there?" I asked.

"Five gold pieces," he smiled.

"Let's go shopping!"

Zuko and I left the building and left to go to the marketplace. There were many things to buy for our new house.

_A/N: YAY! I updated. Now all you have to do is review this chapter for me. _


	21. An Unexpected Gift

_A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews. I like getting reviews it makes me feel good that you guys like my story so far. Here is the next chapter. As always, keep the reviews coming. _

An Unexpected Gift

Zuko and I walked around the marketplace hand in hand. We were searching for food to eat that night.

"What would you like?" he asked me.

I thought for a moment. There wasn't really anything I was craving. That was until a sweet perfume that resembled boiled Ice Fish and stewed sea prunes filled my nose.

"Sea prunes," I said dreamily.

"Sea prunes?" Zuko asked.

"Huh? Oh right. Sea prunes are one of the many things we eat in the South Pole. Sokka and I could never get enough of them. Gran Gran makes them the best in the entire tribe."

Zuko wrinkled his nose. "Okay then. If sea prunes make you happy then its sea prunes you're going to get. I just don't know if they have them here in the city."

"There is no harm in looking," I told Zuko.

"No there isn't," he agreed. "Is there anything else we should get?"

"We should get a bag of rice and tea leaves for your uncle."

"Is there a tea pot in the apartment?" Zuko asked.

"No," I said.

"We should get a real nice one for Uncle."

I shook my head. "No. If we are going to get one it should be a plain clay pot."

"Why?" Zuko asked me.

"We live in the Lower Ring. We don't want anything of great value. We need to keep our belongings simple."

"Okay," he said disappointed.

We went through the marketplace looking for the best deals on rice and tea pots. We found some at a reasonable price. Even though we had five gold pieces we wanted to keep some of that so we had money in the future. After we bought the rice and tea pot it was time for us to search for sea prunes.

We asked all around the marketplace on the streets. We even went knocked on people's doors and asked them if they knew where we could find sea prunes. No one we asked had seen sea prunes in Ba Seing Se. We asked and asked, until one woman knew where to find some.

She was a plump woman with grey hair and few wrinkles. By her haggard looking face it was obvious that she was a mother to several children.

"Do you know where, in the Lower Ring, we can find sea prunes?" Zuko asked her.

"If you keep walking down this road there will be a tea shop. Next to the tea shop is a small restaurant. It's kind of a hole-in-the- wall sort of place so keep your eye out for it. They happen to have sea prunes. If they give you any trouble, just tell them that Kleo sent you." The woman named Kleo offered her hand to Zuko. Zuko took her hand and held it.

"Thank you Kleo," Zuko told her. "We hope to see you around in the future."

"As do I," she said. "See you two around." Kleo gave us one last look and walked away.

We watched her take heavy steps as she faded in with the crowd of people. Zuko looked at me; his fiery eyes staring into my soul. He broke his stare and started to walk down the dusty, dirt road.

"So what kind of restaurant do you think this will be?" Zuko asked me.

"International cuisine?" I suggested.

"It'll probably be some kind of crazy place run by ex- cons or circus clowns or something."

I laughed. "That would be awesome. Do you have any idea what kind of job your uncle will get us?"

"Hopefully anywhere other than a tea shop," he groaned. "If we have to work in a tea shop I'm going to kill Uncle then I'm going to kill myself."

"Don't do that, I'll miss you too much," I said.

"Well I'll kill myself come back to life then kill uncle."

"Sounds good," I said plainly.

"So working in a tea shop isn't your cup of tea is it?" I teased.

Zuko's face turned a deep shade of red and his ears steamed with anger. "Do you mind?" he said angrily.

"I'm sorry," I giggled. "You just make it too east babe. Plus, you are really sexy when you get mad."

Zuko stopped walking and smiled at me. "You really think so?"

"I know so." I cupped Zuko's face in my hands; my thumb brushing against his scar. Zuko gave me a quick kiss and we resumed walking.

All of a sudden Zuko's serene expression fell.

"What's wrong love?" I asked.

"Do you think Cali is here?"

"No. He's in the Fire Nation."

"He always talked about coming to Ba Seing Se," Zuko said.

"Why?"

"To open a bakery or a restaurant," he explained.

"He has one in the Fire Nation," I pointed out.

"He was never happy there. I think that's why we became friends so quickly. We both had a deep hatred for the Fire Nation. He hated the people there too. All of the people that came into his bakery criticized the taste of the food and how the bakery was decorated. He said they did that just to make fun of him. He always talked about coming here and doing things his way. He wanted to have a fresh start."

I never knew that Cali hated the Fire Nation as much as I did. The way he made his pastries, with traditional Fire Nation flavors, made it seem like he loved his country. Zuko never really talked about Cali that much to me. He was a complete mystery.

I tried to think of things that were at his shop the day Zuko and I went there for breakfast. The food was standard and didn't have any foreign flavors. Cali never said anything about the Earth Kingdom either. Then it hit me.

"His shop is decorated with Earth Kingdom relics," I said all of sudden.

"Yeah," he replied with his head hung down.

"Why does he love the Earth Kingdom so much?" I asked.

"His father was Uncle's right hand man during the Siege of Ba Seing Se. While the Fire Nation was attempting to take it down, Cali's father fell in love with a girl."

"She was from Ba Seing Se wasn't she?" I said.

"Yeah, she was one of the prisoners."

"Prisoners?" I asked confused.

"Some of the soldiers captured women that they found alone for…entertainment."

"Do you mean…?" I raised my eyebrows. Zuko nodded. "What did your uncle do about it?"

"He didn't know until Cali's father told him. Cali found this girl getting thrown around by the other men. He saved her from them. He took care of her and eventually they fell in love and had a baby."

"Did he tell your uncle?" I asked eagerly.

"Yeah, they were best friends. How could he not?" Zuko told me.

"What happened?"

"After my grandfather Azulan died, Uncle came back for his funeral. Cali's father stayed in the Earth Kingdom and married Cali's mother. When my father was crowned Fire Lord on the day of my grandfather's funeral he noticed that Cali's father wasn't there." Zuko had a grim look on his face. I knew something went wrong.

"Your father found out that he was still there and did something incredibly evil to him, didn't he?" I said.

"Yeah, he felt that he was a traitor the Fire Nation. He found him and killed him. Cali and his mother got away from my father. They lived in a little village in the Earth Kingdom. The Fire Nation invaded that village and captured his mom. She was killed right before Cali's eyes. He was only ten at the time."

I found cheeks wet with tears. I didn't realize that I was crying. "How did he get to be in the Fire Nation?" I asked Zuko with tears still streaming down my face.

"He was captured by the soldiers and taken there. He's been my best friend ever since the day we met each other at school."

"You miss him don't you?"

"Yes," he replied. "I do."

"You'll see him again," I reassured Zuko.

"I hope so," he replied.

"Here's the restaurant," I pointed out.

We stopped and looked at the front of the building. There was sign that read, "The Red Boar". It was on a large, plain wooden board painted in red.

"Looks promising," Zuko said sarcastically.

I hit him on the arm and said, "Zuko, you can be a real ass sometimes."

"Thank you," he replied. "It makes a guy feel great that he knows that his girlfriend loves him and appreciates him."

"Zuko," I started. "I'm your girlfriend, not you puppy."

"Your bite is pretty bad too," he mumbled.

"What was that?" I asked knowing full well what he said.

"Nothing," he replied quickly.

All of a sudden I heard someone yell inside of the restaurant. The front doors flew open and a man fell out right in front of our feet.

Zuko and I stared at the man in shock for a moment. The man was clutching his knee and panting hard. I kneeled down; bended some water out of the pouch I kept concealed under my shirt, and healed his knee.

"Are you okay?" I asked. The man just nodded. He was in too much shock to speak.

"Katara," Zuko said as he tugged on my sleeve.

"What?" I stood up. Standing right in front of us was Cali.

"Dude, what are you doing here?" Cali asked with a smile that went ear-to-ear.

"I could ask you the same thing," Zuko replied with an equally broad smile.

The two friends reunited with a hug and several pats on the back.

"So is Iroh he too?" Cali asked.

Zuko shushed him. "His name is Mushi. We had to change it because of certain events in the past."

"Ah," Cali replied with a quizzical look on his face. "Wasn't that the name of your pet turtle duck?"

"He wasn't mine, but yes." Zuko turned a deep shade of red. I laughed at him.

"So all of those years of you telling everyone about your pet turtle duck were lies?"

Zuko started to sweat with anger and even more embarrassment. I knew Zuko would lash out at Cali at any moment. To my surprise, he took a deep breath and laughed it out.

"It's good to see you man," Zuko said cheerfully.

"You too," Cali replied with a smile.

I finally had enough of being ignored. I knew seeing Cali for the first time in months was a big deal for Zuko; there was just only so much flirting I could take. I nudged Zuko gently with my elbow to let him know I wanted to be included. Zuko, being a blockhead, didn't notice me. I decided to elbow him in the stomach hard.

"Ow," he yelled. "What was that for?"

I just stood there looking at him with an innocent look about my face.

"Oh," he said, the message finally going through his thick head. "Cali, you remember Katara?"

"How could I forget such a beautiful woman?" Cali grabbed my hand and kissed it gently. I could feel the heat rising in my face with embarrassment to his flattery.

"Easy there buddy," Zuko said in a grim voice. "Keep the hands off my girl."

"Your girl?" I scoffed. "I'm not a sword Zuko. You can't own me."

"Th…that's not what I meant," he stammered.

"Oh, I know full well what you meant."

"Katara," he pleaded.

"I was just kidding," I said. "Don't get your pants in knot."

"She has you whipped man," Cali chuckled.

"Shut up," Zuko bit back.

"Sorry," Cali laughed. "So why did you guys come here?"

"We're looking for sea prunes," I told him.

"Good choice. One of my favorite foods," he said. "If you guys just come into the back with me, I can get you some sea prunes.

We followed Cali through the restaurant and kitchen. He took us to a room that served as a pantry. He reached into a crate and pulled out a sea prune.

"How many do you want?" he asked.

"Ten please," I said. "How much will that be?"

"Don't worry about it," he told us. "It's on me. It's not every day when I get reunited with my best friend and his girl. Consider it a gift."

"Dude if you're going to do that for us than come to dinner tonight," Zuko said to him.

"You're cooking?" Cali asked with a worried look on his face.

"No funny guy, Katara is."

"Well in that case," he said. "Yeah I'll come."

"Great!" I said pleased. "We will pick you up around sun down."

"Sounds good,"

"We should let you get back to work. See you tonight Cali," Zuko said to his best friend.

"Yeah, see you later," he replied with a smile.

Zuko and I left the restaurant excited to see Cali later that night.

* * *

"So which tea shop do you think Uncle meant?" Zuko asked as we stood in front of the restaurant.

"I would think this one right here," I pointed to the tea shop right next to the restaurant.

"Ugh," he growled.

"What?"

"I bet you two copper pieces that we are going to be working here." Zuko looked exasperated.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I actually feel sick," he said clutching his stomach. "I don't think I can go in there. It might kill me."

"Zuko," I scoffed. "Shut up and come on." I stomped in front of him and grabbed his shirt so he would follow me.

"Katara," he whined loudly.

"Zuko we need money," I said annoyed. "It's either this or sleeping on the roofs of Ba Seing Se."

"I kinda like the roof idea," he said too cheerfully for my liking.

I could feel the anger boil inside of me. I decided that getting pissed at him was no going to help matters. I swallowed my anger and pulled him into the tea shop.

"Welcome Lee! Sapphire!" boomed Iroh. "This is where we will be working. Isn't it great?"

"Uncle," Zuko growled. "Why a tea shop?"

"Oh, cheer up nephew," Iroh laughed. "You'll have fun."

"When do we start?" I piped up.

"Tomorrow morning. I was just getting our positions set, so we can head home soon."

"Uncle," Zuko started. "We saw Cali today."

"Cali!"

"Yeah," I said. "We invited him to dinner. I'm making sea prune stew if that's okay?"

"Why dear girl," Iroh said sweetly. "Of course it is okay. You will probably be cooking meals for many days to come."

I smiled.

"So when is he coming?" Iroh asked.

"We were going to pick him up," I told him.

"Katara," Zuko started. "Let's do this: you and Uncle go home and start on dinner and I will pick up Cali. We can hang out before we come home."

"Sounds good," I replied.

"See you when you get home," Iroh said to him and gave him a bone crushing hug.

"Uncle let go!"

_A/N: Sorry it took me forever to update. I have been writing though so that's good. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. As always R&R!_


	22. First Dinner in Ba Seing Se

_A/N: I am so so sorry about the wait! I was on a roll with this chapter and then my Word stopped working. What a bummer. Oh well, now I have this chapter updated finally and I really hope you enjoy it! R&R!_

First Dinner in Ba Seing Se 

I walked along the streets of Ba Seing Se with Iroh, taking him to our new apartment. The wind was blowing hard and the basket I was carrying with sea prunes packed away inside, was knocking against my legs. Iroh tapped me on the shoulder.

"Huh," I said stupidly.

"Allow me to carry the basket," he replied.

"You don't have to do that," I protested. "Really you don't."

"It is my pleasure," he took the basket from me. "Katara, how are things with you and my nephew?"

"Fine, I guess,"

"You guess? Shouldn't you know?"

"I mean we love each other but we've only been together for a couple of months," I explained.

"What does that have to do with anything?" he asked.

"It's not like we are going to be together forever," I laughed.

"How do you know? You might get married and have ten children,"

"We're young," I stated. "Young people never stay together."

"That is not true," Iroh told me. "My wife and I were in love from young age. We were married for a short time before she died in childbirth. I loved her so much and I still do even though she is gone."

"That's amazing," I said in awe.

"Love is the best power and the strongest in the world. If the world used love instead of hate then this dreadful war would be over."

I looked down at the ground embarrassed. Iroh lifted my chin so my eyes met with his.

"Now answer truthfully," he started. "Are you in love with Zuko?"

"Truthfully?" I asked.

Iroh nodded.

"Well, I love him more than anything in my life. He's… perfect. He is just the kind of person I never saw myself with but that turned into the kind of person I couldn't live without. I love him so much but… I'm scared." I felt some relief wash over me.

"Scared of what?" he asked.

"Scared of what will happen in the future," I replied sadly.

"What do you mean?"

"What will happen when the Fire Lord is defeated? Will Zuko become Fire Lord and take me with him?" I looked at Iroh sadly.

"The future is never certain. It is as thick as mud. You will have to let things fall where they may." Iroh smiled at himself pleased with his words of wisdom.

I was a little worried by this. What did Iroh mean?

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" I asked confused.

"Let me tell you something: Zuko has never loved anyone as much as he loves you. You are everything to him. He would be a fool to let you go."

I smiled. "Thank you,"

* * *

We had made it to our run down but suitable apartment. Iroh had not seen it before so this was his first time seeing where we were going to live for the next few months. We walked through the doors and Iroh's face lit up.

"How nice these lodgings are," he said happily. "We are so fortunate to have such a lovely home."

I couldn't help but cringe. I missed my home. I even missed the Fire Nation. I wanted to go back to the Inn with Hama. I wanted to go back to being a teenager that went to school. I enjoyed being like that. I knew there was nothing I could do now. Hama was dead and the Inn burned down. I wanted time to turn back.

"Katara," he started snapping me out of my trance. "What do you want to start cooking first?"

"I will make the sea prunes if you can make the rice," I said.

"And some tea!" Iroh exclaimed.

I giggled. "And some tea,"

I found a cauldron sitting in the fireplace of the room. I grabbed the heavy kettle and took it outside and rinsed it out with a few pumps of water from the water pump. I brought it back to the fire place, which was now lit, and hung it on the hook. I poured some water into the cauldron and let it boil. When it started to bubble over I plopped the sea prunes into the water and let them get tender. When they were finally done I scooped them out of the cauldron and placed them on a plate in a festive design.

"Iroh is the rice done?" I asked.

"Yes it is," he replied with satisfaction. "If you will hand me the plates I will make them up for you."

I grabbed a stack of plates and held them for Iroh as he spooned rice onto them.

"I think we should put the sea prunes on top of the rice," I suggested.

"That sounds delicious," he replied with enthusiasm. I got the plate of sea prunes and placed two of them on top of the bed of rice.

"What shall we do with the water that is left?" Iroh asked me.

"I can make soup out of it. It is so good with a few tomatoes and carrots and a hint of pepper in it."

"You are going all out tonight Katara,"

"Well, it's for a special occasion," I replied. "It's not every day that Zuko runs into his friends in a large city."

Iroh chuckled.

As if on cue Zuko and Cali walked through the door.

"Hey beautiful," Zuko said as he walked over to me to give me a kiss. He looked at all of the food we had made.

"That smells great," he said.

"Yeah," Cali said in agreement. "Everything smells amazing."

"What did you make?" Zuko asked.

"We have rice and stewed sea prunes with soup that still needs some tomatoes and carrots."

"I will chop these vegetables and you relax," Zuko told me as he wrapped his arms around me from the back.

"I can do this," I protested pulling away from him and flung a knife at him.

"You've been cooking all this time, let me help," he argued.

I sighed in defeat. "Fine," I gave him the knife and let him deal with the chopping. I didn't want to stop cooking so I busied myself with stirring the soup.

"Thank you," he replied. Zuko started to chop up the vegetables with careful and swift movement of the knife.

"I'm sorry dinner isn't ready Cali," I apologized. Zuko plunked the vegetables into the boiling pot of soup.

"It's okay. Any day where I don't have to cook is amazing. I can wait," Cali said with a smile that told a million stories but none that were clear to anyone.

I smiled back at him not knowing what secrets he had held.

There was something about Cali that intrigued me. There was a sense of mystery about him. His smile and the way his eyes gleamed gave me a feeling that they were hiding a much more complicated past than what Zuko had revealed to me. I felt like I knew him, but at the same time I knew nothing at all.

I stopped stirring the soup to taste it. I lifted the wooden spoon to my mouth and a warm, flavorful liquid entered my mouth. The both tasted of sea prunes, a food that I haven't eaten in months. The familiarity of it brought memories of home back to me. I thought of Sokka and Gran- Gran and my father. I wondered if Sokka was helping Aang with his Avatar duties. I wondered if Gran- Gran was safe with the rest of our tribe. But most of all, I wondered if my father was still alive. It had been what felt like thousands of years, since I had seen him. I missed him and wanted him back.

"Katara," Zuko said, snapping me out of my trance. "Is the soup done?"

"Yep," I poured the sea prune soup into a large bowl Iroh had bought and set it on the small table in the middle of the room that the men were already seated at.

"This looks amazing," Cali said with big eyes the size of saucers.

"Thank you. Help yourselves to anything you want." I sat down on a musty pillow next to Zuko. We started to eat our first dinner in the grand city of Ba Seing Se together. I wanted every night to be like this one.

Dinner was over and Cali had to get back to his own house. After Cali left Zuko and I began cleaning up.

"So, I thought that was amazing," Zuko announced joyfully.

"I agree. It's really cool that we ran into Cali. Here of all places too." I grabbed some plates and started to splash water on them.

"It feels good to know that I have a friend here. I love being here with you but there are going to be days when we are pissed at each other and I need to be with my buddy."

I looked at him with a stern face. "What does that mean?"

Zuko started to blush and had a worried look on his face. "I just meant that there are going to be times when we are going to need time to ourselves."

"Oh," I said carefully. "Okay."

"Are you mad at me?"

"No," I laughed. "You are such a baby. I give you an answer in a stern tone and you think I'm going to break up with you."

Zuko sighed. "Let's leave this for tomorrow and go to bed."

"We can't because the food will get caked on and it will be really had to get off in the morning." I continued washing the dishes.

"What Katara wants Katara gets I guess?" he mumbled. "Hand me that cloth."

I handed him a dull gray cloth and he helped me with the dishes.

"Ming was right," I smiled.

Zuko looked confused. "Right about what?"

"I have you whipped."

_A/N: Well I hope this chapter will suffice. I really wanted to get it done and I did. Go me! You know the drill… review this chapter!_


	23. A New Discovery

_A/N: I want to clear up some things that people had questions on in the previous chapter. The characters aren't using their code names in the previous chapter because most of it takes place in their apartment .No one would be spying on them except for Jet, but he is a creeper. I also had a question about Zuko and Katara's age. I kept them the same age they are in show. Katara, in my story and the show, is very mature for her age. That is probably because she had to grow up after her mom died and when her father left to fight in the war. She became the mother figure in her tribe. I hope that clears some things up for you guys. Here is the next chapter. I hope you like it!_

A New Discovery

A few weeks had passed since our first night in Ba Seing Se. It was hard to adjust to life as a lower class person but I soon got used to it. Zuko, on the other hand, found it harder than I did. Zuko never warmed up to the idea of working in a tea shop. I guess living with Iroh would do that to a person. Our boss was friendly and always treated us decently. That was because Iroh became the best tea maker in the lower ring. Some even said in the entire city. We got paid good money and lived in comfort for the most part.

It was an ordinary day working in the tea shop. I had to deal with this annoying woman who kept on saying that her tea was either too strong or too weak. Who has ever heard such a thing?

"Miss," the woman screeched. "Miss, come over here now!"

I was hiding in the back trying to avoid her, but no matter what I did she always found me. The woman had the nerve to come into the back and harass me.

"Miss, I am less than pleased with your service. All I want is a cup of tea, but each cup I get is not what I asked for." The woman was fat and had a huge mole on her forehead. It was only natural that she would be the one to complain. "I would like to speak to your employer."

Zuko looked over at me and saw that this woman was harassing me. He finished serving his current customer and came over to rescue me.

"What is going on here?" he said sternly.

"This young woman has failed to serve me what I asked for," the woman complained loudly.

"Then leave." The woman looked at Zuko stunned.

"If you are not happy with this service then leave. You don't look like the Earth King to me. You can't just come in here and harass the people who are serving you. If you want your tea made to your exact specifications then make it yourself. If not, sit down and drink the countless cups of tea Sapphire has brought to you."

The woman stood there for a second unable to speak and wide-eyed. She decided to leave. She never came back again.

"Thank you," I said.

"Nobody should be treating you like that." Zuko gave me a quick kiss and we went back to work.

* * *

Night was approaching fast and it was almost closing time. We were serving the last few customers and waiting for them to leave. Zuko was serving a couple of Earth Kingdom officials when the door burst open. In the doorway was Jet.

"May we help you with anything?" I said coldly.

"These people are FIRE NATION!" he bellowed at the officials. "They say they are 'refugees' but really they are trying to overthrow the Earth King."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I demanded. I had a rough day and was in no mood for Jet's insane accusations even if they were somewhat true.

"I know who you are!" Jet pulled out his hooked swords and pointed at Zuko. "I saw the old man fire bending his tea!"

"Son, what is the problem here?" one of the officials asked.

"These people need to be arrested. They are frauds."

"Jet," I started. "You're confused. Stop this now, there's no use."

"That is where you are wrong." Jet made an advance toward me and grabbed my arm.

With Zuko being Zuko he drew his own duel swords and started to slash furiously at Jet.

"Touch her again and you will never see the light of day."

Zuko and Jet fought all over the tea shop. They knocked over tables and chairs and managed to break a few of them. Zuko and Jet lunged, jumped, and kicked all around the shop and eventually ended up outside. I took off my apron and ran outside to try to break up the fight. When I got outside I realized that I couldn't do anything to stop them. It was impossible. They were so engaged in this fight that they were oblivious to their surroundings.

They drew in a huge group of spectators that gathered around them and yelled out battle strategies and insults. What I thought was weird was that the officials did nothing. They stood in the front row and watched the battle. I ran up to one of the officials and asked, "Aren't you going to do anything?"

"I'm sorry Miss," one of the officials said. "We have notified the Dai Li and they will be here any minute."

"Why can't you do anything?" I demanded.

"The Dai Li will take care of things," he told me.

I looked back at Zuko and Jet. I was worried that the Dai Li would believe Jet and take us away. I didn't want to be a prisoner again.

"Aren't you going to firebend at me?" Jet taunted. I could see hatred burning in his eyes. It was slowly consuming him.

"The only thing I'm going to do to you is let you go. You and I both know that nothing will be gained from this." Zuko lowered his swords and stared Jet down.

"COWARD!" he cried. "Why won't you fight me?"

"You are confused boy," Iroh told him. "Drop you swords and go home."

Zuko didn't say anything. He stood there waiting for something to happen. The crowd suddenly got quiet and parted as two Dai Li agents walked through it. They both were tall and wore green and black robes. One had a scare across his cheek.

"What is going on here?" the agent with the scar demanded.

"This young man destroyed my tea shop and attacked my employees," our boss and owner of the tea shop stated.

"Is this true?" the other agent asked.

"It is sir," the official said. "I saw the whole. This boy came in and started to harass one of the finest tea makers in the city."

"Come with us son," the agent with the scar said darkly. They grabbed Jet and threw him in cage that was drawn by two ostrich horses.

"I'm telling you they are Fire Nation!" he yelled out. "You have to believe me."

"For your own good, be quiet," the official told him. Jet sat back in the cage and it wheeled down the street until we could no longer see him.

Our boss came over and said, "Are you kids okay?" We nodded. I didn't have anything to say about that strange day. Zuko was dead silent. I was afraid that he had stopped breathing. Our boss seemed satisfied with our nod and went back into the tea shop.

Zuko and I stayed outside and watched the crowd thin out. Once most of the people were gone we walked home together and sat down on the musty sofa.

"Zuko, are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine," he replied.

"Are you?" I was concerned. I didn't how freaked out he was. He had this look on his face that was a mix of concern and sadness. "Zuko what is going on?"

"He knows," he said plainly. "Jet knows and I don't know what to do."

"Why would that bother you? You heard the guards; they don't want anyone saying things about the Fire Nation here. This is supposed to be the safe city away from the Fire Nation." I looked at him and put my arm around his waist to reassure him that I was there.

"He would find a way to conquer it. He always finds a way to conquer everything," he sighed. "I'm sick of this war; I'm sick of people getting hurt because of a stupid whim. Taking over the world is just selfish and stupid. I don't understand it. I might be biased because you have been affected by it but I don't want war. My father doesn't understand that I'm different and that I don't want all of that power. It is dangerous for a person to have control over the world."

"Do you remember the reason why they brought me the Fire Nation?" Zuko shook his head.

"They told me that they were going to use for the war. They told me that I was going to fight with the army during the solar eclipse. I don't know how they found out about that, but they were going to make me fight against my own people. That was if my people showed up to fight. They were going to make me fight for something that I was against."

"I don't want anyone else to get hurt especially you," Zuko smiled sadly.

"I won't because I have you." I snuggled against Zuko's chest and let him hold me. I knew that nothing bad was going to happen as long as I was in his arms.

* * *

The next day Zuko and I were buzzing around serving people at the tea shop. We were swamped. Iroh had to brew twice as much of tea than on a regular day. I weaved between the tables and chairs trying to get to everyone. Thankfully I had Zuko helping me so it got done a lot faster.

"Sapphire and Lee take you breaks!" our boss yelled to us.

I put down my tray and sighed. I was so tired I had a tough time walking straight. Zuko grabbed my arm and led me outside. I leaned on the wall of the tea shop so I wouldn't fall down.

"Thanks," I groaned.

"Are you okay?" he asked

"Just a little tired." I slid down the wall and sat down on the dirt. Zuko sat down next to me. I put my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. I heard the rustling of paper caught in the wind. I picked up my head and opened my eyes and Zuko was holding that paper.

"What is it?" I asked.

"The Avatar is in Ba Seing Se."

I shot up and snatched the paper out of his hands. "What?"

I looked at the paper and there was a photo of Appa; Aang's flying bison. "It says, 'Looking for a flying bison in the city. Contact the Avatar if you have any information about the flying bison.' That is weird."

"That Avatar is here so what are you going to do?" Zuko asked me.

"I have to find him. My brother is probably with him. We could help them with their journey. You never know what could happen."

I was so excited of the possibility that my brother could be in city. I was ready to see him and I wanted to see Aang too. I missed both of them so much. I was ready to be reunited with my family.

_A/N: I know that the events in this chapter don't quite match up with the ones in the show. A lot of events are going to occur from the show but they are going to be a bit different. I hope you like this chapter and as always please read and review!_


	24. A Family Reunion

_A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews! It feels really good to know that all of you like this story so far. As it goes on, I will be changing some events from the show to make it fit the story line better. Happy Reading!_

An Emotional Reunion

I woke up the next day excited and ready to find my brother. I jumped out of bed, not caring if I woke Zuko up or not. I ran behind the partition we had in the corner of our room and got dressed.

"Katara?" he said groggily. "What are you doing?"

"Getting ready," I replied. "You should clean up too. We are going to be all around the city today."

"Katara, don't you think we should wait a little while until we start sending out search parties to find your brother?"

"Why?" I said harshly. "We don't know how long they're going to stay."

"Maybe an opportunity will present itself." I looked at Zuko through a hole in the partition. He looked worried. I didn't know what he was afraid of. There wasn't any harm in looking for my brother. I wanted to feel at home again.

"Zuko," I said as I came out from behind the partition wearing my Earth Kingdom clothing. Zuko was lying down and his head on a pillow. "Please. I want to see my bother and help him and Aang."

Zuko sighed in defeat and sat up to look at me. "Okay fine, but you owe me."

I ran to him and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, thank you thank you! I love you so much you know that?"

Zuko pulled me next to him on the bed and started to kiss me. "I know. I love you too." I laid my head on his bare chest and let him hold me. I felt safe and at home in his arms but when I would get be held my brother the feeling would be different.

"Now get dressed; we have a lot of work ahead of us." I climbed out of bed and ran to the kitchen to make breakfast.

I boiled some water for tea and prepared two bowls of rice. Iroh wasn't home because he always got up to go to work at an insane hour. The tea shop was all he had except for me and Zuko.

Zuko came out of our bedroom and sat down at the table expecting me to bring him his breakfast. He looked at me with annoyance.

"What?" I said sharply. "You have arms and legs come get your own breakfast."

"Katara," he whined.

"No, do I look like your maid?" I gave him a withering stare. "No I don't so get up and get your own bowl of rice."

Zuko mumbled something, got up slowly and grabbed his rice. "So much for having a woman in the house; she won't bring you breakfast."

"I made breakfast so that should make you happy. If I wasn't here you and your uncle would starve and die on the streets."

"That's probably true," he mumbled.

"Okay," I said. "Hurry up and eat because we have long day ahead of us."

* * *

Zuko and I left the apartment mid-morning and set out to look for Sokka and Aang. There were posters of Appa all over walls, shops, houses and on the ground. The posters said, "Anyone who has seen a flying bison please contact the Avatar." The only problem with the posters was that there wasn't a way to contact the Avatar. There wasn't an address or anything.

I suddenly realized I was way over my head. Ba Seing Se was a big city and it was almost impossible to find Aang and Sokka.

"If Aang is here then he has to be somewhere in the Upper Ring," Zuko said as if he was reading my thoughts.

"Huh?" I said dumbly.

"In my experience as royalty, if I found out someone of great importance was in my city I would give them the best accommodations I could muster up. They should be living somewhere in the Upper Ring near the most important officials."

"Zuko," I started, "what's your idea?" Zuko looked around the street thinking about something. I could see the gears in his head ticking and clinking together.

"There is no way in hell that the Dai Li would let filthy Lower Ring rats like us into the Upper Ring. We need to find a way into the Upper Ring." Zuko bit his bottom lip and furrowed his brow looking like he was trying to teleport us to the Upper Ring.

"Don't hurt yourself," I whispered trying to break the silence.

"Do you remember Kleo?" he asked.

"Yes, I do."

"Well she told us that if anyone gave us any trouble to tell them her name."

"What's the point Zuko?"

"Well if she told us to give people her name then she has to have connections of some kind."

"So we find her and ask her to help us get into the Upper Ring."

"I was thinking more along the lines of asking her if she has any idea of your brother's whereabouts."

"Zuko," I said uncertainly.

"She has to know something about the Dai Li," he said darkly. "She just has to."

"Okay, but we have no idea where Kleo is."

"Did someone say my name?" I spun around to find none other than Kleo. She was holding a small girl who looked so fragile and frightened.

"Kleo!" Zuko exclaimed. "We need your help."

"Okay sonny, tell me what you need," she said casually.

"Sapphire's brother is here but we believe he is living in the Upper Ring and we have no way to get around the Dai Li to go there."

Kleo's eyes widened and she turned her head and looked at me. As she studied me with great concentration, I began to feel uncomfortable. The little girl in Kleo's arms squirmed.

"Kleo," I said snapping her out of the trance she was in.

"You are Katara," she said mystically.

"Yes, I am Katara."

"Sokka and the Avatar are you're friends," Kleo looked off into space.

"Yes they are," I replied warily.

"Kleo," Zuko interrupted. "Please help us find them."

Kleo spun her head and looked sharply at Zuko. "Meet me at Cali's restaurant at midnight. Do not be late."

Kleo shifted the girl to her other hip and gave us one last look. She turned on her heel and left us. Zuko and I exchanged curious looks to each other.

"What do you think she is going to do?" Zuko asked.

"I have no idea."

* * *

Zuko and I didn't even bother going back to the apartment that day. At the tea shop we told Iroh that we were going to be home late and that he shouldn't wait up for us. We didn't want him to ruin our plans to find Sokka and Aang.

Zuko and I leaned up against the walls of the restaurant and waited for Kleo to meet us there. We stood there in silence for what seemed like hours. It was foggy outside so it made it hard to see our surroundings.

I was staring at a wooden barrel when I saw a shadow come across it. I rubbed my tired eyes and looked up at the shadow. It was Kleo. She was wearing a long black cloak with the hood over her head and covering some of her face. I pushed myself off of the wall and walked towards her. I knew that this was it. I was hopefully going to see my brother for the first time since I was captured. I was ready to see him. I was ready to see Aang again too. I wanted the South Pole back and only Sokka could give me that.

"C'mon kids," Kleo whispered sharply. "We have limited time."

Zuko and I walked with Kleo down the street and all of a sudden figure appeared in the fog. I stopped abruptly out of fear causing Zuko- who was walking behind me- to crash into me.

"Katara!" exclaimed Zuko.

"Sorry," I whispered. "Who is that?"

"That is the man who will help us," Kleo answered.

As we approached the figure I could tell that he was a Dai Li agent. He was wearing the green robe uniform. The man stood tall and did not move.

"This is Feng. He is going to help us get to the Upper Ring." Kleo walked up to him and offered her hand. Feng took and gave her a firm handshake.

"This way," Feng said in his deep, husky voice. "We have to be quick about it."

We followed Feng through the Lower Ring and the Middle Ring without a hitch. There were hardly any people out in the Middle Ring. It seemed like they were all soundly asleep in their beds. We hit the Upper Ring gates and they were tightly shut. There were guards and Dai Li agents everywhere.

"Who goes down there?" yelled a guard from the tower. One of the Dai Li agents walked to us and took a long look at Feng.

"Feng old boy!" the agent exclaimed. "What can I do you for?"

"These two kids and their mother need into the Upper Ring."

The agent gave us a long hard look and after a few uncomfortable moments he yelled, "Oh, okay. Open the gate!"

The gate doors started to open. I stood next to Zuko in awe watching the regal doors swing open. Once the doors were open we walked cautiously into the Upper Ring. The Upper Ring was a spectacle in itself. There were lamps that lined the streets and gave off a warm glow of light. The mansions- of every shade of green imaginable- was drowned in this soft, golden light. The Lower Ring was nothing like this. At night the Lower Ring is dark and cold. The Upper Ring is light and warm. This is what it is like to have money, I thought to myself.

I had been months since I lived in luxury like I saw right in front of my eyes. I was so used to being a penniless peasant that I forgot the life I had with Zuko in the Fire Nation. Not only my life with Zuko but the life I had with Hama. She was my rock there. She was the one thing that was always constant and then, in a blink of an eye, she was gone.

Zuko and I followed Hama and Feng through the Upper Ring. I had no idea where we were or where we were going. As we walked down the streets I saw the biggest building standing alone. I assumed that someone important lived there.

"Who lives there?" I asked

"That is the Royal Palace. The Earth King's house," Feng replied. "He never comes out. Never in his life has he been out of the palace."

I looked up at the palace and imagined my life back in the Fire Nation palace with Zuko. I missed that. Strangely, I wanted to go back.

"How come you can't get into the Upper Ring?" Zuko asked.

"What do you mean son?" Kleo said confused.

"I mean, why isn't anyone allowed in the Upper Ring? If the higher class people can get to the Lower Ring why can't the peasants get to the Upper Ring?"

"They can, but they need the proper clearance from the government," Feng replied. "It is one of the many ways used for maintaining order. Everyone in Ba Seing Se has an equal chance for a better life. It just depends on how you go about it and the people you know."

We turned a corner and I saw this house that was all gray except for the roof and the accents which were both green. Then all of sudden Feng and Kleo stopped and faced the house.

"Why have we stopped?" I asked confused.

"This is it," Kleo replied bluntly.

"You mean we're here?" I said dumbly. "This is where my brother is?"

"Go and knock on the door," she told me. "They should be awake."

I looked at Kleo nervously and slowly made my way to the deck of the house. I glanced behind me and noticed that Zuko wasn't with me and found him standing with Feng and Kleo. I did not know why I was so nervous to see my brother. It had been months since I had seen him… and Aang.

I was anxious and felt my body go numb. I couldn't feel my arms or legs. As I approached the door I was convinced that I would collapse because of my nerves. I felt my shaking hand reach towards the door to knock on it. My knuckles landed on the cold wooden door and sent shivers down my spine as they rapped on the frame. I knocked on the door a few more times (knowing my brother he was dead asleep, snoring, with drool streaming down his chin).

The lights came on in the house and I heard a pair of feet padding around inside of the house. My heart skipped a beat with excitement as the sound of feet got nearer. With each step I heard I more and more anxious and then all of sudden the door opened. The face that stood in the doorway was one that I hadn't seen in months. At that moment the face that stood in front of me was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

I felt hot tears well in my eyes and I tried to blink them back but they just slid down my face.

"Sokka," I whispered.

_A/N: Yay! I finally got this chapter uploaded. Whew! That took longer than I thought it would. As always R&R!_


	25. Plan B

_A/N:__ Okay so here's is the new chapter! Yay! I wanted to let you guys know that I am going to start revising the beginning and earlier chapters of this story. I was reading it over the other day and realized how much I have grown as a writer. I mean I was only fourteen when I started this story. I am not going to change the story line at all because that would just be stupid. I am just going to fix some of the details and make things more enjoyable to read. I know that in the past people have asked me to re-do the chapter where Katara and Zuko kiss and I never did it. Now I will do it along with other chapters. I will try to replace them often because it won't take me long to revise them. I hope that you will re-read this story and tell me what you think. Now I am done talking and all of you lovely people can start reading the newest installment. R&R!_

_Plan B_

_I looked at my brother__ and took in that face that I hadn't seen in months. I missed his goofy smile and his unusually large nose. I couldn't believe that he was right in front of me. I took a deep breath and that old scent of salt water filled me. I couldn't stand in front of him any longer so I stepped towards him and wrapped my arms around his thin figure. Sokka hung onto me and didn't let me go and I was grateful for this. I could feel tears splash on my cheeks and I realized that I wasn't crying; my brother was. _

_"Sokka," I whispered. "I've missed you so much."_

_"I missed you too little sister." _

_"I can't believe that I am standing here with you right now. I thought that I would never see you again."_

_"You have no idea the hell Aang and I have been through. Especially me because - let's just face it- I have no idea how to take care of myself."_

_"Oh, Sokka," I laughed. "You have a way with weapons but when it comes to doing your own laundry you're pretty useless."_

_"Don't I know it?" he laughed while brushing the tears off of his red cheeks. _

_After a moment of being held by my brother he said, "Katara, we need to talk about Aang."_

_I let go of Sokka and looked at him. "Way to ruin this wonderful moment we are having."_

_"Sorry," he replied. "But we really do need to talk about him."_

_"Why, what's going on?"_

_"It's nothing bad…yet."_

_"Okay," I replied impatiently. "Let's go inside and talk about it." I pushed past him and walked into the spacious house. I found a nearby pillow and plopped down on it with a soft thud. Sokka walked through the door and left Zuko, Kleo, and Feng outside. _

_"Why aren't they coming in?" I asked Sokka. _

_"I need to talk to you alone. I don't know how you will handle this so I didn't want you to be surrounded by people."_

_"Okay," I replied warily. _

_"You know how the Sozin's Comet is coming at the end of the summer? Aang has to defeat the Fire Lord before then or the world as we know it will end."_

_"What do you mean?" I asked. _

_"Aang has been training ever since we found him in that iceberg. After you got captured everyone was scared and they didn't know what to do. I know how much you and Aang __talked about leaving the South Pole to find a water bending master. I took it upon myself to take him to the North Pole even though I blamed him for getting you captured. We had some run-ins with the Fire Nation but we got to the North Pole just fine and Aang mastered water bending... more or less."_

_"So what happened after that?" I asked confused. "I doubt you spent all of you time at the North Pole."_

_"The next step was earth bending," he continued. "It took us more time than we expected to find an earth bending master but eventually we found one. Her name is Toph. She is about twelve and she is blind and she is probably the greatest earth bender in the world. Aang had a bit of a block while earth bending but he managed to master that too."_

_"So now you are here looking for Appa." I pieced the puzzle together. _

_"Bingo, little sister."_

_"When did you lose him?"_

_"A few weeks ago we were taking mini vacations and we wound up in this tavern in the middle of the desert. There we meet a professor from Ba Seing Se and he told us about this ancient library that had all of this information about all of the nations. I decided that is where I wanted to go on my vacation.__"_

_"You? The library?" I said flatly. _

_"Shut up!" he snapped. "Anyway, we took the professor and flew all around the desert until we found it. The entire library, except for the main spire, was buried in the sand. We climbed into the library and that is where we found the information of a solar eclipse that is going to happen soon. That is a completely different story that I will eventually tell this boyfriend of yours. That is, of course, after I punch him."_

_"Why would you do that?" I asked outraged. _

_"I haven't seen you in months and now some Fire Nation dude is doing my sister."_

_I could not believe what I was hearing. My brother, who has never cared about anything more than when his breakfast would be done, is thinking that I am having sex? On second thought I knew why he would think that. I was an innocent girl who got taken from her homeland and found a guy who I was traipsing around the world and living with. I was a little taken back when he told me this. It was like he didn't trust me. _

_"Sokka," I said. "Don't get ahead of yourself. I'm not stupid. And besides we really haven't had to chance to get it on…yet."_

_"Katara!"_

_"Sorry," I giggled. "You are so tense."_

_"I haven't seen you in months," he explained. _

_I sighed. "Yeah, I know."_

_"Back to my story; when we got out of the library we found Toph rather upset. Appa wasn't there. He was captured by sandbenders. Toph couldn't do much because she never had any experience with bending sand and she couldn't see them."_

_"So how did you get out of the desert if you didn't have Appa?" I asked. _

_"Aang flew us out of there on his glider. He said that he could carry us but it took a little longer than we would've liked. I mean, he didn't have that many people to carry because it was just me and Toph, but carrying two people is a little heavy. We had to get to Ba Seing Se so we went to the ferry port. Toph got us all passports because of her family status. We met this family and all of their things were stolen including their passports. We decided to take the __Serpent's Pass__, which is an alternate way to get to Ba Seing Se but not the most ideal way."_

_"Now you are here doing what, besides looking for Appa?" I asked. _

_"I need to talk to Zuko about that."_

_"Am I not allowed to know?" I screeched. "It's because I'm a girl isn't it? This is just like when we were kids and I wanted to play "Fortress" with you, but no! I was a girl and according to you I had "too many cooties" to play! I'll have you know big brother that I have become a great water bender while living in the FIRE NATION! Beat that!"_

_"Calm down Katara," he sighed as he wiped the sweat off of his brow. "I'm going to tell you but I need 'Fire Boy' here too."_

_"Sokka, don't you dare say that to him." I warned. "He will burn your face off if you do."_

_"Don't worry little sis," he smirked. "I've got everything under control."_

* * *

_"So what you are telling me is that you want to invade the Fire Nation capital on the day of this__… solar eclipse?" Zuko, Sokka, Kleo, and I were sitting in the living room discussing Sokka's shocking discovery. _

_"That's right Fire Prince." Sokka smirked. "It will give us the advantage and hopefully Aang will be able to defeat the Fire Lord before the comet arrives."_

_"That's a cute idea and all," Zuko said, "but the Fire Nation knows all about the solar eclipse."_

_Sokka's jaw dropped to the floor. "HOW?" he screeched._

_"Admiral Zhao found out about it."_

_"The Fire Nation puppet who chased Aang and I all the way to the North Pole?"_

_"The very same," Zuko said casually. _

_"How did he find out about it?" _

_"He found the same library and stocked up on all the information he could so he could destroy Aang and help my father take over the world."_

_"So what were they plotting for the Day of Black Sun?"_

_"It was all about your sister," Zuko said bluntly. "Their plan was based entirely off of her. They knew the last water bender in the Southern Water Tribe was still alive so they sent spies to the South Pole and found out all they could about Katara."_

_"What was the plan?" Sokka said more firmly. _

_"Since fire benders lose their bending during the solar eclipse they were planning on Katara to help aid the army."_

_"But how did they know that someone was going to try to get to the Fire Lord on that day?" Sokka asked confused. _

_"They didn't know for sure, but they knew something was going to happen. Capturing Katara was more of a precaution than anything else. They not only wanted her to master water bending from Hama, but they also wanted her to learn blood bending."_

_"What's blood bending?"_

_"Blood bending," I said quietly, too afraid to speak of its awful nature. "It's a technique in which a water bender can control the blood in living things. Hama told me that it is a great power but comes with a terrible price. It's not exactly something she was proud of doing."_

_"By blood bending," Zuko continued. "Katara could take control of anyone who dared attack the Fire Lord. Their plan failed when we left the palace and came here. They are ready for the eclipse but I don't know what will happen now that their plan is ruined."_

_"Did you ever learn blood bending?" Sokka asked. _

_"No," I replied grimly. "Hama died before she had the chance to teach me."_

_"So if the Fire Nation has no plan for the Day of Black Sun then we should still go through with the invasion!" Sokka said excitedly._

_"I'm sure they have a 'Plan B'," Zuko said. "But I know for a fact that it can't be as good as the original plan."_

_"You need to try to stop the Fire Lord in every way you can," Kleo spoke. "We need this war to end. If you fail the first time around then there is always next time. I don't want you to tell me that it is all over if the Avatar dies and the Fire Lord lives. No cause is over as long as there are plenty of fools willing to band together and win the fight. Anyone can defeat the Fire Lord, not just the Avatar."_

_"She's right," I responded. "We need to fight every opportunity that we can find, and the solar eclipse is one of them."_

_"Katara," I looked over at Zuko. "We should be getting back to the apartment. We need to be there when Uncle wakes up and it is almost dawn." I looked out of one of the windows and saw the horizon being revealed by light. I realized how long it had been since I stopped and looked at a sunrise. It was a luxury I didn't get to experience enough. _

_Zuko and Kleo politely bowed to Sokka who returned the favor. I ran into my brother's arms and let myself feel at home in his warm embrace. After a few minutes I let him go. I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and smiled at him. Sokka smiled back at me but then it faded. _

_"What?" I asked. _

_"You two are living in an apartment together?" he said outraged._

_"In the same room," I replied with a mischievous giggle. _

_"Katara!"_

_"I knew I missed you for a reason!" _

_A/N: Well I hope you liked this chapter! Remember to read the chapters that I revised and as always please review! _


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